How to use 下去
Subj. + Verb + 下去
下去 after a verb can extend an activity forward in time. It presents the action as continuing beyond its current stage, rather than necessarily moving downward physically. This is useful when encouraging someone to carry on speaking, reading, working, or living in a particular way. The surrounding context establishes the activity already underway.
To describe an inability to continue, put 不 between the verb and 下去. This potential-complement pattern can reflect practical difficulty or the speaker’s inability to tolerate the activity. Negating the whole action before the verb instead says it will not continue, without necessarily explaining inability. 再 can add the idea of continuing further from the present situation.
Examples with pinyin and English
说下去。
Keep talking.
这本书你一定要认真地看下去。
You must keep reading this book carefully.
这样做很有意义，你应该做下去。
It's very meaningful to do this. You should keep doing it.
他走了，因为他没脸待下去了。
He left because he felt shame if he stayed.
What to remember
- Verb + 下去 means carry on.
- Verb + 不下去 describes inability to continue.
- Context separates continued action from downward motion.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
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