下去 xià qù

Learn the two main meanings of 下去 as a directional complement: “downwards movement” and “to continue/go on”

Introduction to Directional Complements

In intermediate Chinese lessons, you have learned that 来 (lái) and 去 (qù) can be suffixed to directional verbs like 上 (shàng), 下 (xià), 出 (chū), 进 (jìn), 回 (huí), 过 (guò) to form “directional complements”.

These directional phrases are almost the same in usage, so you can draw inferences about other cases from one instance. In this lesson, we focus specifically on 下去 (xià qù) and its two main meanings:

Downwards directional meaning (to go down, to move down)
To continue, to go on (persisting with an action or state)

Common Directional Complements with 来/去

上来

shàng lái

come up

下去

xià qù

go down

出来

chū lái

come out

进去

jìn qù

go in

回来

huí lái

come back

过去

guò qù

go over

Pattern: Directional Verb + 来/去 = Directional Complement

Downwards Directional Meaning

When 下去 (xià qù) is used in its literal sense, it indicates movement in a downward direction away from the speaker. The 去 (qù) component emphasizes movement away from the speaker’s current location.

Examples: Directional Meaning

Chinese Sentence	Pinyin	English Translation	Grammar Point	Audio
麻烦你帮我把这些东西搬下去。	máfán nǐ bāng wǒ bǎ zhèxiē dōngxi bān xiàqu.	Please help me move these things down.	搬下去 carry/move down
电梯坏了，她只能从楼梯走下去。	diàntī huàile, tā zhǐnéng cóng lóutī zǒu xiàqu.	The elevator is broken, she can only walk down the stairs.	走下去 walk down

Comparison: 下去 vs 下来

The choice between 下去 (xià qù) and 下来 (xià lái) depends on the direction relative to the speaker:

下去 (xià qù)

Movement away from speaker

搬下去

move down (away)

Example: 把箱子搬下去。
Move the box down (away from here).

下来 (xià lái)

Movement toward the speaker

搬下来

move down (toward)

Example: 把箱子搬下来。
Move the box down (to here).

Meaning of “Continue, Go On”

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Practice Exercises