Carrying on and bringing out: 下去 and 出来
After a verb, 下去 means “keep on doing” something already under way. 出来 means a result has emerged — something new is produced, or something is recognised.
Structure
动词 + 下去（继续） ｜ 动词 + 出来（从无到有；辨认出）
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
Like , the complements and start out as directions — down and away, out towards the speaker — and develop meanings that the HSK 4 paper tests in their own right.
means continuing. It attaches to an action that is already going on and says it carries on into the future: ， “You’re doing well — please go on.” ， “This book is so dull I can’t keep reading it.” It is the counterpart of : looks at the beginning of an action, at its continuation. An object does not normally follow ; move it to the front of the sentence instead: ，.
means that something has come into existence or into view. With verbs of making and thinking, it marks something new: “He came up with this idea.” With verbs of perception, it marks recognition — telling one thing from another: ， “I could tell — that’s Xiao Wang’s voice.” “I couldn’t recognise him.”
The pair / is the classic trap. recalls something you already knew; produces something you did not have before. A new idea is always .
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
你说得很好，请说下去。你說得很好，請說下去。
Nǐ (third tone, dipping) shuō (first tone, high and level) de (neutral tone) hěn (third tone, dipping) hǎo, (third tone, dipping) qǐng (third tone, dipping) shuō (first tone, high and level) xiàqu. (fourth tone, falling)···
You’re doing well — please go on.
我听出来了，这是小王的声音。我聽出來了，這是小王的聲音。
Wǒ (third tone, dipping) tīng (first tone, high and level) chūlai (first tone, high and level) le, (neutral tone) zhè (fourth tone, falling) shì (fourth tone, falling) Xiǎo (third tone, dipping) Wáng (second tone, rising) de (neutral tone) shēngyīn. (first tone, high and level)···
I could tell — that’s Xiao Wang’s voice.
这个办法是他想出来的。這個辦法是他想出來的。
Zhège (fourth tone, falling) bànfǎ (fourth tone, falling) shì (fourth tone, falling) tā (first tone, high and level) xiǎng (third tone, dipping) chūlai (first tone, high and level) de. (neutral tone)···
He was the one who came up with this idea.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 这个办法是他想起来的。
Correct
Correct sentence: 这个办法是他想出来的。
Why: 想起来 recalls something already known. A new idea is produced, so it is 想出来.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 你说得很好，请说起来。
Correct
Correct sentence: 你说得很好，请说下去。
Why: The speaker has already begun. 起来 marks a start; continuing what is under way needs 下去.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我要坚持学下去汉语。
Correct
Correct sentence: 汉语，我要坚持学下去。
Why: An object does not follow 下去. Bring it to the front of the sentence as the topic.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
起来 and 下去 frame the life of an action: 起来 looks at its beginning, 下去 at its continuation. 他哭了起来 “He started crying”; 别哭下去了 “Don’t keep on crying.” 出来 is different again: it looks at the result, something that now exists or is now recognised. With the same verb 想, the three give three meanings — 想起来 “recall”, 想下去 “keep thinking”, 想出来 “come up with”.
起来 beyond “up”: starting, and how things seem →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
Choose the word that completes 这本书太没意思了，我看不___了。