Level 3 · Intermediate
Result complements: Verb + 完/好/到/错
Verb + 完 / 好 / 到 / 错 · Traditional: Verb + 完 / 好 / 到 / 錯
Chinese glues a result onto the verb to say how the action turned out: 吃完 "eat-finish" (finished eating), 找到 "look-succeed" (found), 写错 "write-wrong" (wrote incorrectly), 做好 "do-ready" (done properly). Verb states the action, the second character states the outcome.
To say the result did NOT happen, use 没 in front and drop the 了: 我没找到 "I didn't find it". Never 不 — 不找到 doesn't exist.
Examples
作业我写完了。
作業我寫完了。
zuò yè wǒ xiě wán le
I finished writing the homework.
我找到我的手机了。
我找到我的手機了。
wǒ zhǎo dào wǒ de shǒu jī le
I found my phone.
对不起，我听错了。
對不起，我聽錯了。
duì bù qǐ wǒ tīng cuò le
Sorry, I misheard.
饭还没做好。
飯還沒做好。
fàn hái méi zuò hǎo
The food isn't ready yet.
Common mistakes
✗ 我不找到手机。
✓ 我没找到手机。
A result that didn't happen is negated with 没, never 不.
Related grammar points
Practice this pattern in graded stories like A Quiet Evening (Part 4), The Box Works (Part 15), Searching the Park (Part 6) inside the Literate Chinese app.
