URL
Lesson Introduction
Now we all forget names, voices and faces, but perhaps before we didn't quite know how to explain it in Chinese. Well, thanks to this wonderful resultative complement, verb 不出来 (bu chūlai) verb 得出来 (de chūlai) and your three friends at Qing Wen, you'll have no problem making out this grammar structure!
Comments 
To comment, please login.
Comments Policy
Allowed comments do not necessarily represent the views of ChinesePod.com. We also reserve the right to reject personal attacks, false/unsubstantiated allegations, spamming of any kind, and comments that include vulgar language or libelous statements.
Out of consideration for our Newbie and Elementary users, English translations should be provided with any Chinese (characters or pinyin) written in Newbie and Elementary lesson discussion posts. New lesson idea? Please let us know on our contact page.
artkho says
Amber, In the lesson on Singapore, you mentioned these four words: resultative complement verb structure. When I first saw these words, 我念不出来。They were a mouthful. :) Should verbal diarrhea be translated as 口头腹泻?January 7, 2008
rjberki says
Amber- perfect timing. A new Qing Wen to listen to during my long commute. Thank you.January 7, 2008
connie says
Hi everyone, here are the sentences used in the podcast today: 说不出来 Shuō bu chūlai 听不出来是谁 tīng bu chūlai shì shéi 听不出来他的口音 tīng bu chūlai tā de kǒuyin 想不出来她的名字 xiǎng bu chūlai tā de míngzi 喝不出来是什么茶 hē bu chūlai shì shénme chá 吃不出来是什么菜 chī bu chūlai shì shénme cài 看不出来是什么 kàn bu chūlai shì shénme 闻不出来 wén bu chūlai 闻得出来 wén de chūlai 看得出来 kàn de chūlai 听得出来 tīng de chūlaiJanuary 7, 2008
mikeinewshot says
明白得出来了。谢谢January 7, 2008
Joachim says
Here 说不出来 is actually used - once - in some pop song: http://youtube.com/watch?v=SW-WeVLTrug.January 7, 2008
vann0000 says
说不出来 Shuō bu chūlai ----------------- Sounds like a useful phrase.January 7, 2008
mei3hou2wang2 says
and don't foget the useful phrase. 我猜不出来!January 7, 2008
amber says
hi MikeinEwshot, In that case you could just use 我明白了 (Wǒ míngbai le), because 明白 (míngbai) indicates that something is already understood, so doesn't really need the 出来 (chūlai). Great phrases everyone!January 7, 2008
without says
When Connie was using the affirmative ...得出来 she always added 能 before the main verb. Is this seemingly redundant modal verb always necessary, or can it be omitted? Thanks!January 7, 2008
sparechange says
Back in the day, I asked about 看不出 (kànbuchū) and 听不清 (tīngbuchīng), which I learned were "complements" as well. How closely related are they to the 不出来 and 得出来 we heard about here?January 7, 2008
sparechange says
oops... should be tīngbuqīng, not tīngbuchīng. I get in a hurry and I start typing phonetically.January 7, 2008
pchenery says
Potential complements, descriptive complements and resultative complements...anyone know the Chinese words for these ? :)January 7, 2008
amber says
hi sparechange, 看不出 (kànbuchū) is the same... the 来 (lai) can be omitted. We can do more QWs on other complement structures in the future!January 7, 2008
amber says
hi without, The V + 得出来 (verb + de chūlai) structure already implied the 'ability' to perform/carry out the action. So you can use 能 (néng) in combination, or not. The meaning is basically the same.January 7, 2008
amber says
Hi PaulC, Here are a few of those in Chinese: 可能补语 (Kěnéng bǔyǔ) Potential complements 结果补语 (Jiéguǒ bǔyǔ) Resultative complements 程度补语 (Chéngdù bǔyǔ) Complements of degree 数量补语 (Shùliàng bǔyǔ) Complement of quantity 状态补语 (Zhuàngtài bǔyǔ) Complement of state 趋向补语 (Qūxiàng bǔyǔ) Directional complementJanuary 8, 2008
christian says
Amber, to avoid that problem with boyfriends, just call them all "honey" or "love". It's easier than remembering names ;)January 8, 2008
wei1xiao4 says
This lesson is really perfect timing because I am studying these verb constructions with Vera in practice plan. How do you know when a complement is needed? Go out, come in, those are easy. But what about this sentence 你找来的这个人可靠不可靠？ How do you know that zhao3, to find, requires a complement? Are certain types of verbs more prone to compliments such as sensory verbs which you were using in this lesson. I also learned that you give(gei) someone a call but you da3 qu4 a place. Any more rules like that? Thanks. Great lesson!January 8, 2008
islamabad says
hi i,m learning chineseJanuary 11, 2008
frank says
Finally got around to listening to this episode and I loved it. It's little sentence constructions like this that make certain things fall into place in your head and your spoken Mandarin sound more natural. Great job, as always.January 14, 2008
alijm says
I'm still a Newbie so some of the Qing Wen's go over my head. I'm still not sure what this structure communicates, is it just ability or inability to do the verb?January 23, 2008
tieu_tieu says
August 25, 2008
Hi everybody
this is the first time i come to this we side, i like to study chinese language, but i dont know how to ............? please tell me it, i am from viet nam
thank you
pretzellogic says
September 8, 2008
hi, the lesson pdf seems to have some type of error, and doesn't download properly. thanks.
http://s3.amazonaws.com/chinesepod.com/extra/QW0031/66bd734a141c885a11f80bd3399754b69e5504ca/pdf/chinesepod_QW0031.pdf
light487 says
September 8, 2008
QingWen's don't actually have PDFs.. so the error is that there is a link at all.
pretzellogic says
September 11, 2008
I was afraid of that. I know the comment was made to have pdfs for QW, and I thought that comment led to the creation of pdfs. Too bad it didn't.
jolielee90 says
February 1, 2009
ni hao ma
你好吗