▎起來, qĭlái, as Verb Complement, with inchoative meaning (3)

 

Function When 起來 follows the verb as a complement, it indicates the beginning, the initial point, of an action or state, to begin to.

1 春節快到了，魚、肉都貴起來了。

Chūnjié kuài dào le, yú, ròu dōu guìqǐlái le.

The Lunar New Year is almost here. Prices for fish and meat have begun to go up.

2 一到夏天，旅行的人就多起來了。

Yí dào xiàtiān, lǚxíng de rén jiù duōqǐlái le.

As soon as summer arrives, the number of travelers begins to rise.

3 因為垃圾分類的關係，環境乾淨起來了。

Yīnwèi lèsè fēnlèi de guānxi, huánjìng gānjìngqǐlái le.

Because of garbage sorting, the environment has started to become cleaner.

 

Structures The verb before 起來 can be state verbs (as in the three examples above), or it can be action verbs (as in the three examples below). 了 can occur after the verb, or after 起來.

1 他們進了教室坐下來，就聊起來了。

Tāmen jìnle jiàoshì zuò xiàlái, jiù liáoqǐlái le.

They entered and classroom, sat down, and began to chat.

2 他想到昨天喜宴上的事，就笑了起來。

Tā xiǎngdào zuótiān xǐyàn shàng de shì, jiù xiàole qǐlái.

When he thought of the wedding banquet yesterday, he began to laugh.

3 他不等兄弟姐妹回來，自己吃了起來。

Tā bù děng xiōngdì jiěmèi huílái, zìjǐ chīle qǐlái.

He didn’t wait for his siblings to come back before starting to eat by himself.

Negation：The negation of this pattern is done by 沒 and the potential form ‘V 不起來’.

1 他身體不好，雖然吃得很多，可是還是胖不起來。

Tā shēntǐ bù hǎo, suīrán chī de hěn duō, kěshì háishì pàngbùqǐlái.

His is not in good health. Although he eats a lot, he never gains weight.

2 我吃藥吃了很久，可是身體一直好不起來。

Wǒ chī yào chīle hěn jiǔ, kěshì shēntǐ yìzhí hǎobùqǐlái.

I have been taking medicine for a long time, but my health has not improved.

3 他們兩個人的想法不一樣，所以聊不起來。

Tāmen liǎng ge rén de xiǎngfǎ bù yíyàng, suǒyǐ liáobùqǐlái.

The two of them have very different ways of thinking, so they don’t get on well.

4 暖氣是剛剛才開的，所以房間還沒熱起來。

Nuǎnqì shì gānggāng cái kāi de, suǒyǐ fángjiān hái méi rèqǐlái.

I just turned on the heating, so the room is not warm yet.

Questions：

1 買了糖給弟弟，他是不是就高興起來了？

Mǎile táng gěi dìdi, tā shìbúshì jiù gāoxīngqǐlái le?

Did your younger brother cheer up when you bought candy for him?

2 他們是不是一見面就聊起來了？

Tāmen shìbúshì yí jiànmiàn jiù liáoqǐlái le?

They began to chat as soon as they met up, right?

3 你看，來旅行的人是不是多起來了？

Nǐ kàn, lái lǚxíng de rén shìbúshì duōqǐlái le?

Look, the number of travelers coming here has increased, right?