The compound 起来 (qǐlai) literally means "rise up" — 站起来 is "stand up," 拿起来 is "pick up." But bolted onto a verb or adjective in a non-literal sense, 起来 becomes an inceptive aspect marker: it says the action or state starts up and gathers momentum. 天气热起来了 isn't "the weather rose" — it's "the weather started getting warm (and keeps warming)." The image is exactly what English captures in break into, burst out, pick up: something rising into being. This page is about that inceptive 起来 — how it works, how the object splits it apart, and how to keep it separate from the other, non-aspectual jobs 起来 also does.
The inceptive reading: onset plus build-up
V/Adj + 起来 marks the beginning of a process, with a built-in sense that it develops from there. That "and then it grows" flavour comes straight from the literal "rise" — the action rises into motion and keeps climbing.
听到这个消息，大家都欢呼起来。
tīngdào zhège xiāoxi, dàjiā dōu huānhū qǐlai
When they heard the news, everyone broke into cheers. (neutral)
五月一到，天气就热起来了。
wǔyuè yí dào, tiānqì jiù rè qǐlai le
As soon as May arrives, the weather starts warming up. (neutral)
说着说着，她突然哭了起来。
shuō zhe shuō zhe, tā tūrán kū le qǐlai
As she talked, she suddenly burst into tears. (informal)
孩子们一进操场就跑起来了，谁也拦不住。
háizimen yí jìn cāochǎng jiù pǎo qǐlai le, shéi yě lán bu zhù
The kids started running the moment they hit the playground — nobody could hold them back. (informal)
Note in the third example that 了 can slot inside the compound (哭了起来) to stress the completed onset, or sit at the sentence end (热起来了). Both are natural.
The split: the object goes inside 起…来
Here is the feature that trips everyone up. When the verb has an object, that object does not follow 起来 — it splits the compound apart and lands between 起 and 来. So 下雨 ("rain falls") becomes 下起雨来, and 唱歌 ("sing a song") becomes 唱起歌来. The 起 clamps onto the verb; the object drops in; then 来 closes the frame.
| Base (V + O) | Inceptive (V 起 + O + 来) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 下雨 | 下起雨来 | start raining |
| 唱歌 | 唱起歌来 | break into song |
| 聊天 | 聊起天来 | get to chatting |
| 刮风 | 刮起风来 | the wind picks up |
我刚出门就下起雨来了，只好又回去拿伞。
wǒ gāng chū mén jiù xià qǐ yǔ lai le, zhǐhǎo yòu huíqù ná sǎn
It started raining just as I left, so I had to go back for an umbrella. (informal)
他一高兴就唱起歌来，一点也不害羞。
tā yì gāoxìng jiù chàng qǐ gē lai, yìdiǎn yě bù hàixiū
When he's happy he just breaks into song — not shy at all. (informal)
两个人聊起天来，一聊就是一下午。
liǎng ge rén liáo qǐ tiān lai, yì liáo jiùshì yí xiàwǔ
Once the two of them got chatting, they went on for the whole afternoon. (informal)
Inceptive vs. the other jobs of 起来
The same 起来 does three quite different things, and only the first is the inceptive aspect. The others — physical "up," and the frozen "recall / seem" idioms — belong more properly to the world of figurative directional complements. Keep them apart:
| Use of 起来 | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Inceptive (aspect) | start to / build up | 热起来了 — starts warming up |
| Literal direction | physically upward | 站起来 — stand up |
| 想起来 | recall, remember | 想起来了 — it came back to me |
| 看起来 / 说起来 | seem / come to think of it | 看起来不错 — looks good |
他一下子从椅子上站起来，把大家都吓了一跳。
tā yíxiàzi cóng yǐzi shang zhàn qǐlai, bǎ dàjiā dōu xià le yí tiào
He shot up from his chair all at once, giving everyone a fright. (informal) — literal 'up'.
我想起来了，他叫小李，我们上个月见过。
wǒ xiǎng qǐlai le, tā jiào Xiǎo Lǐ, wǒmen shàng ge yuè jiàn guo
It's coming back to me — his name's Xiao Li, we met last month. (informal) — 想起来 = recall.
这道菜看起来很好吃，可惜有点儿咸。
zhè dào cài kàn qǐlai hěn hǎochī, kěxī yǒudiǎnr xián
This dish looks delicious — shame it's a bit salty. (informal) — 看起来 = seem/appear.
Common Mistakes
1. Putting the object after 起来 instead of splitting it. The object must land between 起 and 来.
❌ 天一下子下起来雨了。
Wrong — the object 雨 must sit inside the compound: 下起雨来.
✅ 天一下子下起雨来了。
tiān yíxiàzi xià qǐ yǔ lai le
It suddenly started raining. — the object splits 起…来.
2. Dropping the closing 来. With an object, the frame needs both halves; 起 alone leaves it hanging.
❌ 他一高兴就唱起歌。
Wrong — the inceptive frame is unfinished; 起 needs its closing 来: 唱起歌来.
✅ 他一高兴就唱起歌来。
tā yì gāoxìng jiù chàng qǐ gē lai
When he's happy he breaks into song. — 来 closes the frame.
3. Using inceptive 起来 to mean "keep going." 起来 starts an action; to continue one already underway, use 下去.
❌ 你别停，接着说起来。
Wrong for 'go on talking' — 起来 starts an action; continuing one needs 下去.
✅ 你别停，接着说下去。
nǐ bié tíng, jiēzhe shuō xiàqu
Don't stop — go on talking. — 下去 continues an ongoing action.
4. Forgetting 了 for a completed onset. When the start has actually happened, the sentence usually needs a final 了.
❌ 昨天晚上突然冷起来。
Incomplete for 'it suddenly got cold last night' — a completed onset in the past takes a final 了.
✅ 昨天晚上突然冷起来了。
zuótiān wǎnshang tūrán lěng qǐlai le
It suddenly got cold last night. — 了 marks the realized change.
Key Takeaways
- Inceptive V/Adj + 起来 marks the onset of an action or state that then builds: 热起来 (warming up), 哭起来 (bursting into tears).
- With an object, the compound splits: V + 起 + Object + 来 (下起雨来, 唱起歌来) — never 下起来雨.
- 了 may sit inside (哭了起来) or at the end (热起来了); a completed onset in the past normally wants that final 了.
- Keep inceptive 起来 apart from literal "up" (站起来) and the frozen idioms 想起来 (recall) and 看起来 (seem).
- To continue rather than start an action, switch to 下去 (说下去), not 起来.
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- Continuative 下去: Keep Going (说下去)HSK 4 — V + 下去 marks continuing an action already underway into the future — 'keep on / go on V-ing': 说下去 'go on talking', 坚持下去 'keep persevering', 活下去 'survive' — as opposed to the literal 'go down' and distinct from 下来.
- Figurative 起来: Recall, Seeming, InceptionHSK 4 — The 'upward, into view' image of 起来 (qǐ lái) extends to three everyday figurative senses: recalling (想起来), evaluating (看起来, 听起来, 说起来), and starting-and-continuing (下起雨来, 笑起来).
- Phase Verbs: 开始 / 继续 / 停 (Begin / Continue / Stop)HSK 2 — Phase verbs mark the start, middle, or end of an action and take a bare verb straight after them — 开始上课 (class begins), 继续工作 (keep working), 停下来 (come to a stop) — with no 'to' and no '-ing'.
- All the Aspect Markers: A Decision MapHSK 4 — A single decision map for every Mandarin aspect marker — 了, 过, 着, 在/正在, 要…了, 起来, 下去, 惯 — chosen by the shape of the event rather than by tense.