Ever see Chinese verbs glued to a second piece like “看懂” or “吃完” and wonder what’s going on? Those are resultative complements: a simple, powerful way to say what happened after an action. In this lesson, you’ll learn the most common complements, how to negate them, and how they show up in everyday Mandarin—from studying to shopping and eating out.

What is a resultative complement?

In Mandarin, you often add a short element after a verb to show the result of the action. The pattern is:

• Verb + Resultative complement (RC)

This tells the listener not just what you did, but how it turned out.

High-frequency complements

Here are the most common results you’ll hear in daily life.

Try using these in short, real sentences. Focus on outcome: finished, obtained, seen, understood, wrong, remembered.

我还没作业。

Completion vs. success vs. perception

Resultative complements often fall into broad meaning groups:

• Completion: 完, 好
• Success/achievement: 到
• Perception: 见 (see/hear), 懂 (understand)
• Correctness/incorrectness: 对 / 错 (对 is less common as RC but appears in verbs like 说对、答对)

Compare how they change meaning:

Potential complements: 能做到吗？

To talk about possibility or ability, Chinese uses 得/不 between the verb and the result:

• V + 得 + RC = can achieve this result
• V + 不 + RC = cannot achieve this result

This structure does not use 了.

Word order with objects

With resultative complements, objects can appear before the verb with 把 for focus:

• 我把作业写完了。
• 他把门修好了。

Without 把, objects often follow the verb+RC:

• 我作业写完了。（colloquial with topic fronting）
• 他修好了门。（less natural; better: 门修好了。）

我看完了这本书把。 → 我把这本书看完了。 Use 把 + object + V + RC + 了 to highlight completing the object. 我不看见他了。 → 我没看见他。 Past negation uses 没(有) before the verb. 不看见 expresses a general refusal/impossibility, not past non-occurrence.

Getting it right vs. wrong

RCs can mark correctness:

• 你答对了三个问题。 (You answered three questions correctly.)
• 我拿错了钥匙。 (I took the wrong keys.)

In learning contexts, 懂 and 记住 are especially useful.

那个词我终于了。

Cultural note: Hear RCs everywhere

In service and daily life, Mandarin speakers rely on RCs to be precise and efficient:

• 店员：东西修好了。 (The item has been repaired.)
• 家人：饭做好了。 (Dinner is ready.)
• 同事：文件找到了。 (The file has been found.)

Notice how these short patterns quickly give you outcome: fixed, ready, found.

Quick recap

• Resultative complements attach to verbs to show outcome: 看懂、买到、吃完、拿错。
• Use 了 to mark completed events; use 没(有) for past negation.
• Use 得/不 for potential (can/can’t): 看得懂/看不懂、买得到/买不到。
• 把 + object + V + RC + 了 highlights completing an object.

Keep listening for these patterns around you—they’re everywhere!

Final practice

Say these out loud, then adapt them to your day:

• 我终于看懂了。（a concept）
• 我把报告写完了。（a task）
• 今天太挤了，票买不到。（a situation）
• 菜都做好了。（at home）
• 我拿错了。（when you grab the wrong thing）

You’ve got this—tight, clear results in Chinese make your speech natural and confident. 加油！