结果补语 (resultative complements) — Resultative complements — 完, 好, 懂, 见, 到, 清楚

Chinese packs "verb + result" into one compound: 做完 (finish doing), 看懂 (read and understand), 找到 (search and find). The complement answers "with what result?" Negation goes with 没 before the whole compound: 没做完 "didn't finish." Questions about possibility insert 得/不 between verb and complement: 听得懂 (can understand by listening) / 听不懂 (can't). This is why Chinese rarely needs separate words like "finish" or "successfully."

complementHSK 3Difficulty 70

Where it goes

Verb + Resultative Complement (+ Object) — e.g., 我听懂了他的话

What it does

01Fuses action and result into a single verb compound
02Negation with 没 applies to the whole compound: 没看见 (didn't see)
03Potential form inserts 得/不: 看得见/看不见 (can/can't see)

Common learner errors

⚠Separating verb and complement: 我做完作业了 ✅ but 我做作业完 ❌
⚠Wrong negation: 我不看见他 ❌ → 我没看见他 ✅
⚠Using 得 in the factual form: 我看得见他 (potential, "can see") vs 我看见了他 (factual, "saw") — mixing these up

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结果补语 (resultative complements) — Resultative complements — 完, 好, 懂, 见, 到, 清楚