Simple directional complements: 进来/出去
A directional complement attaches to a verb to show movement toward/away from a reference point.
6 core pairs:
| Direction | Toward speaker | Away from speaker |
|-----------|---------------|-------------------|
| 进/出 | 进来 | 进去/出去 |
| 上/下 | 上来 | 上去/下去 |
| 回 | 回来 | 回去 |
Structure: Verb + 来/去 or Verb + 进/出/上/下/回 + 来/去
Object placement: Object goes before 来/去:
> 他走进教室来。✅ (not: 走进来教室)
来 vs 去: 来 = movement toward the speaker; 去 = movement away.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 请进来，门开着呢。 | Qǐng jìn lái, mén kāi zhe ne. | Please come in — the door is open. | 进来 = move in toward speaker; simplest form |
| 他从包里拿出一张纸来。 | Tā cóng bāo lǐ ná chū yī zhāng zhǐ lái. | He took out a piece of paper from the bag. | Object (一张纸) placed between 出 and 来 |
| 老师走进教室，同学们都站了起来。 | Lǎoshī zǒu jìn jiàoshì, tóngxuémen dōu zhàn le qǐlái. | The teacher walked into the classroom; the students all stood up. | 走进 + place; 起来 = directional complement for rising motion |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
What this opens up
These patterns list Simple directional complements among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
Simple directional complements is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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