Directional Complements in Cantonese

In Brief

Put a directional complement after an action verb to show where the movement goes: 行入去 means “walk in,” while 行出嚟 means “walk out toward here.” 嚟 points toward the speaker or chosen viewpoint, and 去 points away from it; words such as 上、落、入、出、過、返 describe the path.

Overview

A complement is a word or phrase that comes after a verb and completes its meaning. In 行入去 “walk in,” 行 names the action, while 入去 tells you the direction of that action. Cantonese uses these compact verb combinations constantly when people give directions, invite someone inside, move objects, describe arrivals and departures, or tell a story about movement.

This is an A2 pattern built on basic Cantonese verb order. The beginner rule is straightforward: say the action first and the direction second. English often uses a particle or preposition—“come in,” “carry up,” “run out”—but the match is not always word for word. Cantonese can describe both the path and whether that path leads toward or away from the speaker.

The most useful distinction is therefore not simply “come” versus “go.” It is the speaker’s deictic viewpoint (the place treated as “here” in the conversation). If movement approaches that viewpoint, use 嚟 lai4. If it moves away from it, use 去 heoi3.

How It Works

1. The basic pattern

The core structure is:

subject + action verb + directional complement (+ aspect or sentence-final particle)

• 佢行過嚟。 — He/She walks over here.
• 你拎上去。 — Take it up there.
• 隻貓跳落嚟。 — The cat jumps down toward us.

The first verb explains how something moves: walking, running, carrying, flying, pushing, and so on. The complement explains where that movement leads.

2. The two viewpoint words: 嚟 and 去

Cantonese	Jyutping	Core meaning	Viewpoint
嚟	lai4	come; move toward here	toward the speaker or chosen viewpoint
去	heoi3	go; move toward there	away from the speaker or chosen viewpoint

Used alone after another verb, they give a simple contrast:

• 行嚟 — walk this way / come walking
• 行去 — walk that way / go walking
• 攞嚟 — bring it here
• 攞去 — take it there

The “here” can be a conversational viewpoint rather than the speaker’s physical location. On the phone, a person at home may say 你幾時返嚟？ “When are you coming back?” because home is treated as the center of the conversation.

3. Path words

The following forms identify the path. They can occur after an action verb, and many can then combine with 嚟 or 去.

Form	Jyutping	Direction	Example
上	soeng5	upward	行上去 — walk up
落	lok6	downward	跳落嚟 — jump down toward here
入	jap6	inward	搬入去 — move in there
出	ceot1	outward	跑出嚟 — run out toward here
過	gwo3	across or over toward another point	行過嚟 — walk over here
返	faan1	back or returning	搭車返去 — travel back there
起	hei2	upward, especially rising or picking up	企起身 — stand up

A useful full pattern is:

action + path + 嚟/去

For example, 拎上去 contains 拎 “carry/take,” 上 “up,” and 去 “away from here.” Together they mean “take it up there.” In 跑出嚟, 出 says “out” and 嚟 says that the movement ends toward the current viewpoint.

Not every everyday expression needs all three pieces. 入嚟！ “Come in!” and 出去！ “Go out!” use the path word itself as the main movement verb. Context supplies the manner of movement.

4. Choosing between paired forms

Cantonese	English	What changes
行入嚟	walk in here	inward, toward the viewpoint
行入去	walk in there	inward, away from the viewpoint
跑出嚟	run out this way	outward, toward the viewpoint
跑出去	run out that way	outward, away from the viewpoint
拎上嚟	bring it up here	upward, toward the viewpoint
拎上去	take it up there	upward, away from the viewpoint
搬返嚟	move it back here	returning toward the viewpoint
搬返去	move it back there	returning away from the viewpoint

Imagine standing upstairs and speaking to someone below. 拎上嚟 is natural because the object will approach you. If you are downstairs telling someone to put the object upstairs, 拎上去 is natural because it will move away from you.

5. Objects and destinations

With a moved object—the person or thing affected by the action—a clear beginner pattern is:

action verb + object + directional complement

• 拎本書入嚟。 — Bring the book in.
• 搬張枱出去。 — Move the table outside.
• 帶個朋友返嚟。 — Bring a friend back here.

This keeps the object close to the action verb and leaves the directional sequence intact. Cantonese allows other arrangements in particular contexts, especially with short pronouns, topic-comment sentences, and disposal constructions. At A2, the pattern above is a dependable model.

A destination may follow the movement expression when it is needed:

• 行入去間房。 — Walk into the room.
• 搬返去辦公室。 — Move it back to the office.
• 跑出去街。 — Run out into the street.

In actual speech, speakers often omit a destination that is already obvious. 入嚟坐 is complete without saying which room: “Come in and sit down.”

6. Completion with 咗

A directional sequence can describe a completed event. 咗 zo2 is an aspect marker (a word that presents an action as completed), not simply a past-tense ending.

• 佢跑出去咗。 — He/She ran out / has run out.
• 隻貓跳咗落嚟。 — The cat jumped down.
• 我搬咗張枱入去。 — I moved the table inside.

With an object, placing 咗 after the action verb is a useful and common pattern: 搬咗張枱入去. With no stated object, it can occur after the whole movement expression, as in 跑出去咗. Sentence context and information focus can affect placement, so learn complete phrases rather than treating 咗 as an English-style past ending.

Examples in Context

Cantonese	Jyutping	English	Note
行過嚟。	haang4 gwo3 lai4	Walk over here.	Movement toward the speaker
拎上去。	ling1 soeng5 heoi3	Take it up there.	Upward and away
佢跑出去咗。	keoi5 paau2 ceot1 heoi3 zo2	He/She ran out.	Completed movement away
入嚟坐。	jap6 lai4 co5	Come in and sit down.	Natural invitation with two verbs
你落嚟食飯啦。	nei5 lok6 lai4 sik6 faan6 laa1	Come down and eat.	Speaker is at the lower viewpoint
麻煩你拎啲杯入去廚房。	maa4 faan4 nei5 ling1 di1 bui1 jap6 heoi3 cyu4 fong2	Please take the cups into the kitchen.	Object before the directional complement
隻狗由花園跑入嚟。	zek3 gau2 jau4 faa1 jyun2 paau2 jap6 lai4	The dog ran in from the garden.	Inward toward the speaker
我聽日搬返去香港。	ngo5 ting1 jat6 bun1 faan1 heoi3 hoeng1 gong2	I’m moving back to Hong Kong tomorrow.	Returning to a place away from “here”
佢帶咗個朋友返嚟。	keoi5 daai3 zo2 go3 pang4 jau5 faan1 lai4	He/She brought a friend back here.	Completed action with an object
小心行落去。	siu2 sam1 haang4 lok6 heoi3	Walk down carefully.	Downward and away
架車駛過嚟喇。	gaa3 ce1 sai2 gwo3 lai4 laa3	The car is coming over this way.	Approaching the viewpoint
佢一見到我就走咗出去。	keoi5 jat1 gin3 dou2 ngo5 zau6 zau2 zo2 ceot1 heoi3	As soon as he/she saw me, he/she went outside.	咗 follows the action verb
快啲攞返入嚟！	faai3 di1 lo2 faan1 jap6 lai4	Bring it back inside quickly!	返 plus an additional path and viewpoint
啲煙由窗口飄咗入嚟。	di1 jin1 jau4 coeng1 hau2 piu1 zo2 jap6 lai4	The smoke drifted in through the window.	Non-human subject can move too

Common Mistakes

1. Choosing 嚟 or 去 from the English verb alone

• Wrong: 我喺樓上。你拎本書上去。 when the listener is bringing the book to you upstairs
• Right: 我喺樓上。你拎本書上嚟。
• Why: The book moves toward the speaker upstairs, so use 嚟. English “bring” and “take” offer a clue, but the actual viewpoint decides the Cantonese form.

2. Putting the path before the action

• Wrong: 入行去。
• Right: 行入去。
• Why: The action normally comes first: 行 “walk” + 入去 “inward and away.”

3. Dropping the viewpoint when the contrast matters

• Unclear: 拎上。
• Clear: 拎上嚟。 / 拎上去。
• Why: 上 gives the vertical path, but 嚟 or 去 tells the listener whether the item comes toward “here” or goes toward “there.” Shorter forms can occur when context is strong, but the complete pair is safer for learners.

4. Treating 咗 as a fixed past-tense suffix

• Wrong approach: automatically adding 咗 after every English past verb
• Right: 佢而家行入嚟。 “He/She is walking in now”; 佢行咗入嚟。 “He/She walked in.”
• Why: 咗 presents an event as completed. Time words and context, not verb conjugation, locate Cantonese events in time.

5. Confusing a static place with movement

• Wrong: 本書入去個袋。 for “The book is in the bag.”
• Right: 本書喺個袋入面。
• Why: Directional complements describe movement or a change of location. Static location uses a location pattern such as 喺 + place + 入面.

6. Mispronouncing directional 上

• Wrong: reading 上 in 行上去 as soeng6
• Right: 行上去 haang4 soeng5 heoi3
• Why: In the directional verb meaning “go up,” 上 is pronounced soeng5. The location word in 上面 soeng6 min2 “on top/above” uses a different tone.

Usage Notes

Directional compounds are especially common in spoken instructions. Cantonese frequently leaves out a subject or object when everyone knows who or what is involved. 拎入嚟 can therefore mean “bring it in,” even though no word meaning “it” appears.

攞 lo2 and 拎 ling1 can both occur in everyday expressions involving taking or carrying. Choice varies with the action and speaker; focus first on recognizing the directional ending: 攞返嚟, 拎出去, and so on.

Traditional characters are used here to represent spoken Cantonese. Formal Standard Written Chinese may choose different vocabulary or structures, so a written notice need not look exactly like everyday Hong Kong speech. The directional logic itself, however, remains highly useful in conversation.

Be careful with English translations such as “back.” Cantonese 返 explicitly presents movement as a return, but English may omit “back” where it is understood. Conversely, English “come back in” may require a fuller sequence such as 返入嚟, containing return, inward path, and movement toward the viewpoint.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master the following combinations at A2, but you will hear them often.

More than one direction can be stacked

Cantonese can build a detailed route from smaller pieces:

• 攞返入嚟 — bring it back inside
• 行返出去 — walk back outside
• 搬返上去 — move it back upstairs

These are not random strings. The elements generally unfold from the action through the route to the final viewpoint: 攞 + 返 + 入 + 嚟 “take + return + in + toward here.” This makes Cantonese unusually precise about a path in a very short phrase.

Directional forms can develop non-literal meanings

Movement words sometimes extend beyond physical motion. 諗返起 means “remember/recall,” literally suggesting a thought coming back up. 講落去 can mean “continue speaking,” where 落去 presents the action as carrying on. These should be learned as whole expressions; their meaning cannot always be predicted by translating each character literally.

Potential forms fit inside the directional pattern

At a later level, 得 and 唔 can show whether the endpoint is achievable:

• 入得去 — can get in
• 入唔去 — cannot get in
• 搬得上去 — can manage to move it up
• 搬唔上去 — cannot manage to move it up

Here the issue is not permission in general but whether the movement can successfully be achieved. This belongs to the wider system of potential complements.

Viewpoint can shift in a story

A narrator can adopt the viewpoint of a person or place inside the story. Someone who is not currently at the office may still report an office worker’s words with 返嚟 if the office is the relevant “here.” This flexible viewpoint explains why mechanically replacing every English “come” with 嚟 and every “go” with 去 eventually fails.

Practice Tips

1. Use a two-location drill. Put one object near you and another across the room. Say pairs such as 拎過嚟 / 拎過去, 攞入嚟 / 攞出去, and physically perform each movement. The contrast becomes easier when it is tied to space.
2. Build phrases in three steps. Start with an action such as 行, add a path such as 入, then choose the viewpoint: 行 → 行入 → 行入嚟/行入去. Repeat with 跑、拎、搬、帶.
3. Listen for the final syllable. In natural speech, the action and path may pass quickly, but final 嚟 versus 去 often reveals the speaker’s viewpoint. Pause short clips and sketch an arrow toward or away from “here.”

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Basic Verbs and Word Order — provides the action-first verb structure used in directional compounds.
• Useful foundation: 到 as Verb Complement (Arriving/Reaching) — shows how a complement can add an endpoint to a motion verb.
• Next step: Completed Action 咗 — explains completion marking in sentences such as 佢跑出去咗.
• Later extension: Resultative Complements — expands the same verb-complement idea from direction to the result of an action.
• Later extension: Potential Complements (得/唔) — shows whether a directional or resultative endpoint can be achieved.