▎出來, chūlái, as Verb Complement, to figure out

 

Function When 出來 serves as a complement to verbs of cognition and senses, it refers to a result of ‘being figured out’, ending a cognitive processing.

1 這張三十年以前的照片，你得看久一點，才能看出來是誰。

Zhè zhāng sānshí nián yǐqián de zhàopiàn, nǐ děi kàn jiǔ yìdiǎn, cái néng kànchūlái shì shéi.

You need to look awhile to figure out who the person in this 30-year-old picture is.

2 我聽出來那個人說的是臺灣話。

Wǒ tīngchūlái nà ge rén shuō de shì Táiwān huà.

I was able to tell that that person was speaking Taiwanese.

3 這個旅行路線的建議是他想出來的。

Zhè ge lǚxíng lùxiàn de jiànyì shì tā xiǎngchūlái de.

He is the one who came up with this suggested travel itinerary.

 

Structures 出來 can be used in all the four complement structures, i.e., V出來, 沒V出來, V 得出來, and V 不出來.

1 美美喝得出來這杯是烏龍茶。

Měiměi hēdechūlái zhè bēi shì Wūlóng chá.

Mei Mei could tell (by tasting) that this cup is Oolong tea.

2 他寫得出來這個中國字。

Tā xiědechūlái zhè ge Zhōngguó zì.

He is able to write this Chinese character.

3 我吃不出來那種食物是什麼材料做的。

Wǒ chībùchūlái nà zhǒng shíwù shì shénme cáiliào zuò de.

I could not tell (by eating) what ingredients were used to make that type of food.

4 小李看不出來那個人是臺灣人還是韓國人。

Xiǎo Lǐ kànbùchūlái nà ge rén shì Táiwān rén háishì Hánguó rén.

Xiao Li cannot tell (by looking) whether that person is Taiwanese or Korean.

Negation：

1 他沒吃出來媽媽在水餃裡放了什麼菜。

Tā méi chīchūlái māma zài shuǐjiǎo lǐ fàngle shénme cài.

He could not tell (by tasting) what vegetable Mom put in the boiled dumpling.

2 美美沒喝出來飲料裡有什麼水果。

Měiměi méi hēchūlái yǐnliào lǐ yǒu shénme shuǐguǒ.

Mei Mei could not tell (by tasting) what the fruit was in that drink.

3 考試的時候，小明沒想出來那個複雜的漢字怎麼寫。

Kǎoshì de shíhòu, Xiǎomíng méi xiǎngchūlái nà ge fùzá de Hànzì zěnme xiě.

During the test Xiaoming could not recall how to write that difficult Chinese character.

Questions：

1 你聽不聽得出來說話的那個人是美國人？

Nǐ tīng bù tīngdechūlái shuōhuà de nà ge rén shì Měiguó rén?

（= 你聽得出來聽不出來說話的那個人是美國人？）

(= Nǐ tīngdechūlái tīngbùchūlái shuōhuà de nà ge rén shì Měiguó rén?)

Can you tell (by listening to him) that the person who is speaking is American?

2 你看得出來看不出來老師說的那個字？

Nǐ kàndechūlái kànbùchūlái lǎoshī shuō de nà ge zì?

Can you find the character that the teacher talked about?

3 我們上個月花了多少生活費，你算出來了沒有？

Wǒmen shàng ge yuè huāle duōshǎo shēnghuófèi, nǐ suànchūlái le méi yǒu?

Have you calculated last month’s living costs?

 

Usage

(1) If the object is short, it can appear between 出 and 來.

1 是他想出那個建議來的。

Shì tā xiǎngchū nà ge jiànyì lái de.

It was he who came up with that suggestion.

2 你寫不寫得出這個字來？

Nǐ xiě bù xiědechū zhè ge zì lái?

Can you write this character?

(2) Also, when the pattern is used with non-cognitive verbs, 出來 simply refers to the ability of accomplishing something, ‘able to’, e.g.,

1 你們公司是不是有問題？這個月薪水還沒發出來！

Nǐmen gōngsī shìbúshì yǒu wèntí? Zhè ge yuè xīnshuǐ hái méi fāchūlái!

Is something wrong with your company? They haven’t issued this month’s salaries yet.

1 如果你沒說出來，沒有人會知道你幫過他。

Rúguǒ nǐ méi shuōchūlái, méi yǒu rén huì zhīdào nǐ bāngguò tā.

If you had not said so, no one would have known that you helped him.

3 小明拍得出來那麼好看的照片，可是我拍不出來。

Xiǎomíng pāidechūlái nàme hǎokàn de zhàopiàn, kěshì wǒ pāibùchūlái.

Xiaoming takes such amazing pictures, but I can’t seem to.