| DIRECTIONAL COMPLEMENT
The directional complement is made up of verbs indicating movement, like to go up (shang), to go down (xia), to exit (chu), to enter (jin), to cross (guo) etc. which follow directly the main verb (usually indicating movement too) and specify the direction of the action, like many English phrasal verbs.
1. Simple or monosyllabic complement
When the verb is followed by "to go" (qu), the action brings the subject/object away from the person speaking; if it is followed by "to come" (lai), the action is directed toward the person speaking: |
|  | She immediately came back. (to return + to come) |
|  | I don't want to go out. (to exit + to go) |
2. Compound or bisyllabic complement
When the complement is made up of two verbs, it specifies not only the direction of the action but also the kind of movement: |
|  | He climbed up there.
(to climb + to go up + to go) |
|  | A child came running .
(to run + to cross + to come) |
| If there is a place complement, you must put it right before qu or lai. If there is an object, you can put it in the same place, or after the entire construction, or else you can take it before the main verb using the particle ba: |
|  | I want to go back to China. (to return + to go) |
|  | Take out your passport, please.
(to take + to exit + to come) |
|  | idem |
| Some directional complements have abstract meanings: |
|  | Everybody started to laugh.
(qilai indicates the beginning of the action) |
|  | If you go on like this you'll end up in prison.
(xiaqu indicates that the action continues) |
