Potential + Directional: 上得去 / 上不去 | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

The same insert-得/不 trick that turns a resultative into a potential works on directional complements too. Take a motion verb with a direction attached — 上去 "go up," 出来 "get out," 回来 "come back" — and drop 得 or 不 right after the verb: 上得去 / 上不去, 出得来 / 出不来, 拿得回来 / 拿不回来. The meaning is "whether the movement can be achieved given the circumstances" — the ladder, the crowd, the weight, the blocked door. As with resultatives, the negative dominates: you will hear 上不去 far more often than 上得去.

Simple directionals: 上得去 / 上不去

With a simple directional (one direction morpheme: 来/去/上/下/进/出/回/过/起), the hinge sits between the verb and the direction:

Directional	Can (V得D)	Can't (V不D)	Meaning
上去 (go up)	上得去 (shàng de qù)	上不去 (shàng bu qù)	can / can't go up
下来 (come down)	下得来 (xià de lái)	下不来 (xià bu lái)	can / can't come down
进去 (get in)	进得去 (jìn de qù)	进不去 (jìn bu qù)	can / can't get in
出来 (get out)	出得来 (chū de lái)	出不来 (chū bu lái)	can / can't get out
回来 (come back)	回得来 (huí de lái)	回不来 (huí bu lái)	can / can't get back
过去 (get past)	过得去 (guò de qù)	过不去 (guò bu qù)	can / can't get past

门堵住了，我们出不去。

mén dǔ zhù le, wǒmen chū bu qù

The door is blocked — we can't get out. (informal)

这么高的山，你上得去吗？

zhème gāo de shān, nǐ shàng de qù ma?

A mountain this high — can you get up it? (informal) — affirmative in a question.

电梯坏了，老人上不去。

diàntī huài le, lǎorén shàng bu qù

The elevator is broken — the elderly can't get up. (neutral)

Compound directionals: V + 得/不 + path + 来/去

With a compound directional — a path morpheme (上/下/进/出/回/过) plus a deictic 来/去 — the hinge still goes right after the verb, and the whole path+来/去 stays glued together behind it: 拿得出来 / 拿不出来, 搬得上去 / 搬不上去, 走得进去 / 走不进去.

Compound	Can	Can't	Meaning
拿出来 (take out)	拿得出来 (ná de chū lái)	拿不出来 (ná bu chū lái)	can / can't take out
搬上去 (carry up)	搬得上去 (bān de shàng qù)	搬不上去 (bān bu shàng qù)	can / can't carry up
拿回来 (bring back)	拿得回来 (ná de huí lái)	拿不回来 (ná bu huí lái)	can / can't bring back

人太多了，我挤不进去。

rén tài duō le, wǒ jǐ bu jìn qù

There are too many people — I can't squeeze in. (informal)

你的书我明天拿得回来。

nǐ de shū wǒ míngtiān ná de huí lái

I can bring your book back tomorrow. (neutral) — a rare, natural affirmative.

这些行李太多，我一次拿不出来。

zhèxiē xíngli tài duō, wǒ yí cì ná bu chū lái

There's too much luggage — I can't get it all out in one go. (informal)

箱子太重，我一个人搬不上去。

xiāngzi tài zhòng, wǒ yí ge rén bān bu shàng qù

The box is too heavy — I can't carry it up alone. (informal)

The object, the 了 rule, and vs 能

Three practical points. Object placement: unlike the ordinary compound directional, where the object can nest before 来/去 (拿出一本书来), the potential keeps 出来 together and puts the object outside — topicalized in front (这本书我拿不出来) or trailing after (我拿不出来这本书). The 了 rule: aspect 了 never goes inside a potential; any 了 is sentence-final — 我上不去了 "now I can't get up," never ✗上了不去. Versus 能: for a plain physical impossibility, the potential is more idiomatic than 不能 — 上不去 sounds more natural than 不能上去 (which leans toward "not allowed to go up"). The finer contrast lives on potential vs 能.

他跑得太快，我追不上。

tā pǎo de tài kuài, wǒ zhuī bu shàng

He runs too fast — I can't catch up. (informal) — 追不上, a very common directional potential.

你一个人出得来出不来？

nǐ yí ge rén chū de lái chū bu lái?

Can you get out on your own or not? (informal) — the V得D V不D question.

Figurative directionals in the potential

Some of the most frequent directional potentials are not about physical motion at all. When a figurative directional flips into a potential, the "movement" becomes a mental achievement: 想不起来 "can't call to mind," 看不出来 "can't tell / discern," 说不出来 "can't put into words." These are everyday, not bookish, and they behave exactly like their physical cousins — 得 for can, 不 for can't, object outside.

他的名字我一时想不起来。

tā de míngzi wǒ yìshí xiǎng bu qǐ lái

I can't recall his name for the moment. (informal) — 想不起来 = can't retrieve from memory.

她是不是生气了，我看不出来。

tā shì bu shì shēngqì le, wǒ kàn bu chū lái

I can't tell whether she's angry. (informal) — 看不出来 = can't discern.

Common Mistakes

1. Slipping 了 inside the potential. Aspect 了 cannot go between the verb and the direction.

❌ 门太小，沙发搬了不进去。

Incorrect — no 了 inside a potential; use 搬不进去.

✅ 门太小，沙发搬不进去。

mén tài xiǎo, shāfā bān bu jìn qù

The door is too small — the sofa won't fit through.

2. Reaching for 不能 where the potential is idiomatic. For a physical can't, prefer V不D.

❌ 山太高，我不能上去。

Unnatural for physical inability — this leans toward 'not permitted'; use 上不去.

✅ 山太高，我上不去。

shān tài gāo, wǒ shàng bu qù

The mountain is too high — I can't get up.

3. Nesting the object inside a potential compound directional. Keep 出来 together; put the object outside.

❌ 我拿得出一本书来。

Unnatural — in the potential, don't split 出来; say 这本书我拿得出来.

✅ 这本书我拿得出来。

zhè běn shū wǒ ná de chū lái

I can get this book out. — object topicalized, 拿得出来 intact.

4. Dropping the deictic 来/去. The potential must carry the full direction it was built on.

❌ 这么高，我上不。

Incorrect — the direction can't be dropped; you need 上不去.

✅ 这么高，我上不去。

zhème gāo, wǒ shàng bu qù

It's so high — I can't get up.

Key Takeaways

Insert 得 / 不 right after the verb to make a directional potential: 上得去 / 上不去, 出得来 / 出不来.
With a compound directional, the path+来/去 stays glued together behind the hinge: 拿不出来, 搬不上去.
Aspect 了 never sits inside a potential — it goes sentence-final: 上不去了.
The object goes outside the potential block (topicalized or trailing), not nested before 来/去.
For a physical "can't," the potential beats 不能 in naturalness: 上不去 over 不能上去.

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