▎下去, xiàqù, as Verb Complement, to keep on doing something

 

Function 下去 is a locative V1V2. It is here used as a temporal complement to an action verb, with the meaning ‘to continue to, to keep on’.

1 你說得很好。請你再說下去。

Nǐ shuō de hěn hǎo. Qǐng nǐ zài shuōxiàqù.

You have spoken well so far, please continue.

2 我們在夜市逛了很久了，你還要逛下去嗎？

Wǒmen zài yèshì guàngle hěn jiǔ le, nǐ hái yào guàngxiàqù ma?

We’ve walked the night market for a long time already. Do you want to continue?

3 雖然學費不便宜，但是我還想念下去。

Suīrán xuéfèi bù piányí, dànshì wǒ hái xiǎng niànxiàqù.

The tuition isn’t cheap, but I still want to continue studying.

 

4 他還沒說完，請大家聽下去。

Tā hái méi shuōwán, qǐng dàjiā tīngxiàqù.

He hasn’t finished yet, please let him speak.

5 這份工作不錯，雖然薪水少，可是我還要做下去。

Zhè fèn gōngzuò búcuò, suīrán xīnshuǐ shǎo, kěshì wǒ hái yào zuòxiàqù.

This job isn’t bad. Although the pay is low, I want to continue doing it.

6 已經三個小時了，你還要等下去嗎？我想他不會來了。

Yǐjīng sān ge xiǎoshí le, nǐ hái yào děngxiàqù ma? Wǒ xiǎng tā bú huì lái le.

It’s been three hours. Do you still want to keep on waiting? I don’t think he’ll come.

 

Structures When 下去 combines with transitive verbs, their objects are either moved to the front of the sentence or are omitted if the contexts are clear enough.

1 這個工作我想一直做下去。

Zhè ge gōngzuò wǒ xiǎng yìzhí zuòxiàqù.

I want to keep doing this job.

＊我想一直做下去這個工作了。

＊Wǒ xiǎng yìzhí zuòxiàqù zhè ge gōngzuò le.

2 念中文雖然很累，我還要念下去。

Niàn Zhōngwén suīrán hěn lèi, wǒ hái yào niànxiàqù.

Although I’m exhausted, I’m still going to keep on studying Chinese.

＊雖然很累，我還要念下去中文。

＊Suīrán hěn lèi, wǒ hái yào niànxiàqù Zhōngwén.