The spatial sense first, then the jump

You cannot feel the figurative use until the literal one is solid, so start there. A directional complement is a verb of motion (起, 下, 出, 进, 上, 回 and so on) tacked onto a main verb to say which way the action goes, usually closed off with 来 (lái, towards the speaker) or 去 (qù, away). The literal versions are concrete:

• 站起来 (zhàn qǐ lái) - stand up (the body rises)
• 走下去 (zǒu xià qù) - walk on down (movement continues downward and away)
• 跑出来 (pǎo chū lái) - run out (motion from inside to outside, towards me)

The figurative versions keep the shape of the verb-plus-direction but swap the physical journey for an abstract one. The trick is to ask what each direction feels like as a metaphor. Up is where things spring into life. Carrying on downstream is continuation. Coming out into the open is emergence and discernment. Hold those three images and the rest follows. The literal mechanics of attaching these complements are covered in complements and resultative complements; this page is purely about the metaphorical leap.

起来: the action springs into being

The core figurative job of 起来 is inception - the instant an action or state kicks off. Think of something physically jumping up: that upward burst is the metaphor for a beginning. English reaches for 'start to', 'burst out' or 'break into'.

• 他笑起来 (tā xiào qǐ lái) - he burst out laughing (the laughter springs up)
• 天冷起来了 (tiān lěng qǐ lái le) - the weather has started to turn cold
• 大家唱起来了 (dà jiā chàng qǐ lái le) - everyone broke into song
• 孩子哭起来了 (hái zi kū qǐ lái le) - the child started crying

Notice this is about the onset, not the duration. 笑起来 is the moment the laughing begins, not the laughing carrying on. That contrast with 下去 is the whole game, and we return to it below.

The 起来 'try-to' frame

Separately, 起来 has a second figurative life as a framing complement that means roughly 'when you try to ...' or 'on doing ...'. Here it sits after a verb and sets up an assessment of how that action turns out.

• 这个菜吃起来很辣 (zhè ge cài chī qǐ lái hěn là) - this dish tastes very spicy (literally: on eating it, it is very spicy)
• 这件事说起来话长 (zhè jiàn shì shuō qǐ lái huà cháng) - it is a long story (on speaking of it, the words are long)
• 这个字写起来很难 (zhè ge zì xiě qǐ lái hěn nán) - this character is hard to write (when you try to write it, it is hard)

The classic set phrase built on this frame is worth memorising whole:

• 说起来容易做起来难 (shuō qǐ lái róng yì zuò qǐ lái nán) - easier said than done (literally: speaking-of-it easy, doing-it hard)

Both halves use the try-to frame: 说起来 sets up 'when you go to say it', 做起来 sets up 'when you go to do it', and the adjectives 容易 and 难 deliver the verdict on each. The neat symmetry is why it survives as a proverb.

下去: carry on, keep going

If 起来 is the start, 下去 is the continuation. The image is water flowing downstream, or a road carrying on into the distance: the action keeps rolling in the direction it was already going. English says 'keep on', 'carry on', 'go on'.

• 你说下去 (nǐ shuō xià qù) - carry on talking (keep the speech flowing)
• 我们坚持下去 (wǒ men jiān chí xià qù) - let us keep at it / persevere
• 这样下去不行 (zhè yàng xià qù bù xíng) - carrying on like this will not do
• 他读不下去了 (tā dú bú xià qù le) - he could not go on reading (potential form: the reading cannot continue)

That last example shows 下去 slotting into the potential pattern (verb + 不/得 + complement) covered in potential complements. 读得下去 (can go on reading) versus 读不下去 (cannot go on reading) is a clean potential pair built on the continuation sense.

起来 versus 下去: onset against continuation

This is the pair to drill, because they are opposite ends of the same timeline. 起来 marks the moment something begins; 下去 marks something that is already running being carried further.

• 他唱起来了 (tā chàng qǐ lái le) - he broke into song (the singing starts now)
• 他唱下去了 (tā chàng xià qù le) - he carried on singing (the singing was already happening and continues)

Same verb 唱 (chàng, to sing), opposite temporal job. Choose 起来 when you mean the action ignites; choose 下去 when you mean an existing action does not stop.

出来: emergence and discernment

出来 has two linked figurative senses, and both come from the literal image of something coming out into view.

The first is plain emergence - something is produced, created or brought into existence, moving from nothing into the open.

• 他想出来一个办法 (tā xiǎng chū lái yí gè bàn fǎ) - he thought up a plan (the idea emerges)
• 厨师做出来一道新菜 (chú shī zuò chū lái yí dào xīn cài) - the chef created a new dish

The second is discernment - using a sense or the mind, you succeed in making something out, telling it apart, recognising it. The hidden thing comes out into your perception.

• 我看出来他在说谎 (wǒ kàn chū lái tā zài shuō huǎng) - I could tell he was lying (the truth becomes visible to me)
• 你听出来了吗 (nǐ tīng chū lái le ma) - did you make it out / could you tell? (by ear)
• 我尝出来这里面有姜 (wǒ cháng chū lái zhè lǐ miàn yǒu jiāng) - I could taste that there is ginger in this

The unifying idea: whatever was hidden, unformed or not yet noticed comes out where it can be perceived or used. 想出来 brings an idea out of nowhere; 看出来 brings a hidden fact out into sight. The 来 here is towards the perceiver, which is why 出来 (towards me) is far commoner in this sense than 出去 (away from me).

A note on the split form

With an object, 出来 often splits around it, and so do 起来 and 下去. The object slots between the verb-direction and the final 来/去:

• 他想出来了一个好主意 - or more naturally - 他想出一个好主意来 (tā xiǎng chū yí gè hǎo zhǔ yi lái) - he came up with a good idea

The split is optional and stylistic; the meaning does not change. For the word-order logic behind where objects can sit, see word order.

Minimal pairs side by side

Hold the verb still and change only the direction. The metaphor does all the work.

The bottom three are the sharpest drill: 说起来 (on trying to say it), 说下去 (keep saying it), 说出来 (get it said, bring it out). One verb, three directions, three completely different jobs.

Common errors

Error 1: using 起来 for 'keep going'

Because 起来 is the first figurative directional most learners meet, they over-apply it and use it where continuation is meant. 起来 is the start, not the carrying on.

• ✗ 你说起来吧，我在听 - WRONG if you mean 'go on talking'. 起来 starts a fresh action. To tell someone to continue an existing one, use 下去: 你说下去吧，我在听 (nǐ shuō xià qù ba, wǒ zài tīng) - carry on, I am listening.
• 他一坐下就笑起来了 (tā yí zuò xià jiù xiào qǐ lái le) - CORRECT. The laughing begins, so 起来 is right: the moment he sat down he burst out laughing.

Error 2: writing 出去 when discernment needs 出来

The discernment sense almost always points towards the perceiver, so it takes 来, not 去. Learners who think 'the truth went out' reach for 出去 and get it wrong.

• ✗ 我看出去他在说谎 - WRONG. The hidden fact emerges towards you, the perceiver, so it must be 来: 我看出来他在说谎 (wǒ kàn chū lái tā zài shuō huǎng) - I could tell he was lying.
• 把灯关了，他走出去了 - CORRECT but literal. Here 出去 is genuine physical motion away from the speaker: he turned off the light and walked out. Discernment is never 出去.

Error 3: forgetting the aspect particle 了 on a completed onset

A figurative 起来 marking a state that has already begun normally pairs with sentence-final 了 to signal the change of state. Leaving it off makes the onset sound incomplete or like a command.

• ✗ 天冷起来 - INCOMPLETE as a statement. To say the weather has turned cold, mark the new state with 了: 天冷起来了 (tiān lěng qǐ lái le) - the weather has started to turn cold.
• 我们坚持下去 (wǒ men jiān chí xià qù) - CORRECT without 了, because this is a call to keep going, not a report of a completed change. The 了 / change-of-state logic sits in aspect markers.

Error 4: literal-translating the try-to frame as if 起来 meant 'up'

The framing 吃起来很辣 does not mean 'eat up and it is spicy'. The 起来 here is the assessment frame 'on doing it', and the subject of the adjective is the topic, not the eater.

• ✗ Reading 这个菜吃起来很辣 as 'eat the dish up, very spicy'. The real sense is this dish tastes spicy - 吃起来 frames the verdict that follows. The dish, not the eater, is what is spicy.

What to drill

1. Map each direction to one metaphor. 起来 = it begins (springs up). 下去 = it carries on (flows down and away). 出来 = it emerges into view (comes out). Decide the meaning first, then the direction follows.
2. Drill the 起来 / 下去 timeline pair. 唱起来了 (broke into song) against 唱下去了 (carried on singing). Onset versus continuation, same verb.
3. Default 出来 to 来, not 去, for discernment. 看出来, 听出来, 想出来 all point at the perceiver. 出去 is for literal motion away from you only.
4. Learn the proverb whole. 说起来容易做起来难 (easier said than done) bakes the try-to frame into one liftable phrase.
5. Pair figurative 起来 onsets with 了. A turned state - 天冷起来了, 孩子哭起来了 - takes change-of-state 了; a forward-looking 下去 call to continue does not.

For the literal complement machinery these all sit on, see complements and resultative complements. For the can / cannot versions like 读不下去 and 看得出来, see potential complements. For the change-of-state 了 that rides with figurative 起来, see aspect markers.