▎上, shàng, (Ptc), as Verb Complement, coming into contact (2)

 

Function When 上 serves as a verb particle, it refers to the ‘coming into contact’ between two nouns.

1 王先生穿上西裝，準備去上班。

Wáng xiānshēng chuānshàng xīzhuāng, zhǔnbèi qù shàngbān.

Mr. Wang put on his suit and prepared to go to work.

2 新娘換上了另外一件漂亮的禮服。

Xīnniáng huànshàngle lìngwài yí jiàn piàoliàng de lǐfú.

The bride changed into another beautiful gown.

3 他跑了好久。最後，追上了垃圾車。

Tā pǎole hǎojiǔ. Zuìhòu, zhuīshàngle lèsè chē.

He ran a long time, and finally caught up with the garbage truck.

4 小林到臺灣以後就喜歡上了臺灣的芒果。

Xiǎo Lín dào Táiwān yǐhòu jiù xǐhuānshàngle Táiwān de mángguǒ.

After arriving in Taiwan, Xiao Lin fell in love with Taiwan’s mangos.

5 我們一走進店裡去，姐姐就看上了那個紅色的背包。

Wǒmen yì zǒujìn diàn lǐ qù, jiějie jiù kànshàngle nà ge hóngsè de bēibāo.

As soon as we stepped into the shop, my big sister took a fancy for that red backpack.

6 哥哥愛上了她，想跟她結婚。

Gēge àishàngle tā, xiǎng gēn tā jiéhūn.

My older brother has fallen in love with her and wants to marry her.

 

Structures

Negation：

1 你不寫上你的名字，沒有人知道這本作業本是你的。

Nǐ bù xiěshàng nǐ de míngzi, méi yǒu rén zhīdào zhè běn zuòyèběn shì nǐ de.

If you don’t write your name on this workbook, no one will know it’s yours.

2 媽媽沒搭上最後那班捷運。

Māma méi dāshàng zuìhòu nà bān jiéyùn.

Mom didn’t catch the last MRT train.

3 我沒追上垃圾車，只能明天再丟垃圾了。

Wǒ méi zhuīshàng lèsè chē, zhǐ néng míngtiān zài diū lèsè le.

I didn’t catch up to the garbage truck, so I can only throw out the garbage tomorrow. (i.e., take the garbage out tomorrow)

Questions：

1 你是不是在履歷表上寫上了名字？

Nǐ shìbúshì zài lǚlì biǎo shàng xiěshàngle míngzi?

You wrote your name on the CV, didn’t you?

2 爸爸看上的東西就一定很好嗎？

Bàba kànshàng de dōngxi jiù yídìng hěn hǎo ma?

Is everything that catches dad’s fancy really nice?

3 老闆愛上王小姐了吧？要不然怎麼對她那麼好呢？

Lǎobǎn àishàng Wáng xiǎojiě le ba? Yàobùrán zěnme duì tā nàme hǎo ne?

I gather the boss has fallen in love with Miss Wang. Otherwise, why would he treat her so well?

 

Usage

(1) Only certain verbs can combine with 上. They must be verbs that can make two nouns come into contact with each other either physically or psychologically, e.g., 穿chuān ‘put on’, 愛ài ‘love’, and 追zhuī ‘chase, court’ are typical cases.

(2) Not all ‘V＋上’ cominbations can have all the complement structures in the actual (positive, 沒 negative) or potential forms (can V1 得 V2, cannot V1 不 V2). See the chart below.

 

Verb＋上	Actual（__，沒）	Potential（得/不）
追 zhuī ‘chase’	✓	✓
看 kàn ‘see’	✓	✓
愛 ài ‘love’	✓	×
穿 chuān ‘wear’	✓	✓
送 sòng ‘give’	✓	×
換 huàn ‘exchange’	✓	×
喜歡 xǐhuān ‘like’	✓	×

1 皮包雖然貴，可是不好看。媽媽還看不上呢。

Píbāo suīrán guì, kěshì bù hǎokàn. Māma hái kànbúshàng ne.

The bag is expensive, but it’s not attractive. Mom won’t take a fancy to it.

2 雖然很多人給他介紹女朋友，但是沒有一個他看得上的。

Suīrán hěn duō rén gěi tā jièshào nǚpéngyǒu, dànshì méi yǒu yí ge tā kàndeshàng de.

Although many people have introduced potential girlfriends to him, he hasn’t taken a liking to any one of them.