In short

The same direction words you learned for physical motion - 起来 (qǐlái, up), 下来 (xiàlái, down-to-here), 下去 (xiàqù, down-away), 出来 (chūlái, out) - very often drop their literal meaning and become phase markers glued to a verb or adjective. 忙起来 (máng qǐlái) is not “busy upward” but “get busy”; 说下去 (shuō xiàqù) is “carry on talking”; 看出来 (kàn chūlái) is “figure out.” Learn the fixed figurative value of each - nothing is actually moving.

The rule

After certain verbs and adjectives a directional complement stops pointing in space and instead tags a phase or nuance of the action: its start, its continuation, its winding-down, or its coming-into-the-open. The word order is the same as the literal complements in Directional complements (simple and compound); only the meaning is lexicalized. In speech these complements are usually said in the neutral tone (qilai, xialai, chulai), though their citation tones are qǐlái, xiàlái, chūlái.

Step 1 - 起来 = switch on and keep on (plus two side senses). Attached to a verb or adjective, 起来 most often marks the onset of an action or state that then continues:

Verb / Adjective + 起来

忙起来 (máng qǐlái, get busy), 下起雨来 (xià qǐ yǔ lái, start to rain), 笑起来 (xiào qǐlái, burst out laughing). Two frozen side senses ride on the same shape: an assessment sense with perception verbs - 看起来 (kàn qǐlái, looks like), 听起来 (tīng qǐlái, sounds like), 说起来 (shuō qǐlái, speaking of it) - and a gather / put-away sense - 收起来 (shōu qǐlái, put away), 藏起来 (cáng qǐlái, hide).

Step 2 - 下来 = wind down, settle, fix in place. 下来 takes an action or state from active to at-rest, or pins something down so it stays:

Verb / Adjective + 下来

停下来 (tíng xiàlái, come to a stop), 慢下来 (màn xiàlái, slow down), 安静下来 (ānjìng xiàlái, quiet down), 记下来 (jì xiàlái, write down), 定下来 (dìng xiàlái, be settled). It also tracks a gradual change up to the present: 天黑下来了 (tiān hēi xiàlái le, it has got dark).

Step 3 - 下去 = carry on from here into the future. 下去 continues an action already in progress, looking forward:

Verb + 下去

坚持下去 (jiānchí xiàqù, keep on / persevere), 说下去 (shuō xiàqù, go on speaking), 活下去 (huó xiàqù, go on living). Contrast it with 下来: 坚持下来了 looks back (made it through to now); 坚持下去 looks ahead (keep it up from now on).

Step 4 - 出来 = emerge, detect, produce. 出来 brings something hidden into the open, or a new thing into being:

Verb + 出来

看出来 (kàn chūlái, tell by looking / figure out), 听出来 (tīng chūlái, recognize by ear), 想出来 (xiǎng chūlái, think up), 认出来 (rèn chūlái, recognize).

Object placement and the potential form. A noun object splits the onset 起来: 下起雨来 (not 下起来雨). Elsewhere a short object may sit inside (想起一件事来, xiǎng qǐ yī jiàn shì lái) or after the whole complement (想起来一件事); note 一 is written yī but said yí before the 4th-tone 件. To say you can or cannot do these, insert 得 / 不 as a potential complement (see Potential and extreme-degree complements): 想得起来 / 想不起来 (xiǎng de qǐlái / xiǎng bù qǐlái, can / can’t recall), 看不出来 (kàn bù chūlái, can’t tell).

Forms & patterns

The four figurative complements at a glance:

The three uses of 起来:

下来 vs 下去 - the pair that trips everyone up:

Examples

Common mistakes

• 这个工作我做不下来。 (meant as “I can’t carry on with this job”) -> 这个工作我做不下去。 (Zhège gōngzuò wǒ zuò bù xiàqù.) - “Can’t carry on doing it” is continuation into the future, so it is 下去; the settling 做不下来 says something else - “can’t see it through to the end.”
• 我不想起来他的名字。 -> 我想不起来他的名字。 (Wǒ xiǎng bù qǐlái tā de míngzi.) - Inability to recall is the potential negative 想不起来; 不想起来 would mean “don’t want to recall.”
• 我看起来你在骗我。 -> 我看出来你在骗我。 (Wǒ kàn chūlái nǐ zài piàn wǒ.) - 看出来 means “detect / figure out”; 看起来 means “it seems / looks like” and cannot take an object like this.
• 外面下起来雨了。 -> 外面下起雨来了。 (Wàimiàn xià qǐ yǔ lái le.) - With the onset 起来, a noun object slots between 起 and 来, splitting the complement.

Tips

• Treat each direction word as a phase switch: 起来 = switch on and keep on, 下来 = wind down and settle, 下去 = keep going forward, 出来 = bring into the open. Nothing physically moves.
• 下来 vs 下去 by the deictic: 来 points back to now (坚持下来了 = made it this far), 去 points onward (坚持下去 = carry on from here). Same verb, opposite time direction.
• 看/听/说 + 起来 are everyday hedges, not motion: 看起来 (seems), 听起来 (sounds like), 说起来话长 (shuō qǐlái huà cháng, it’s a long story). Keep them apart from 看出来 / 听出来, which mean “detect.”
• For “can” or “can’t,” break the complement open with 得 / 不 - 想得起来 / 想不起来, 看得出来 / 看不出来 - the potential pattern from lesson 39.