Complex subjects, modifiers and results

Pitfall: Do not add 的 automatically to every activity used as a subject.

Pitfall: The first 他 is inside the event being evaluated.

Pitfall: Do not string modifiers together without checking which one modifies which unit.

找到 find successfully; 记住 retain in memory; 拿走 take away; 关上 close; 穿上 put on. The same final character can carry different result senses in different lexical pairs.

Pitfall: These results are lexical combinations, not interchangeable endings.

听出 recognize from hearing; 想起 recall; 写下 write down. These involve recognition, retrieval or retention rather than literal movement out, up or down.

Pitfall: No physical upward motion is intended by 起 here.

笑起来 begin laughing; 聊上了 get talking. 上 marking onset belongs to particular combinations and is not universally interchangeable with 起来.

Pitfall: Translate the onset rather than literal upward movement.

说下去 keep talking from now onward; 坚持下来 manage to persist through the relevant period. The temporal perspective helps explain the difference, but each combination still needs context.

Pitfall: 下来 also has other meanings; continuation must be established by context.