起來

See also: 起来

Chinese

		to rise; to raise; to get up	to come
trad. (起來)		起	來
simp. (起来)		起	来

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Standard)

  (Pinyin): qǐlái

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄧˇ ㄌㄞˊ

  (Dungan, Cyrillic and Wiktionary): челэ (či͡əle, II-I)

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hei² loi⁴
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): hí-lòi
• Jin (Wiktionary): qi² lai¹
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): khí--lâi / khiai

  (Teochew, Peng'im): ki² lai⁵

• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ⁵chi-le

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qǐlái → qǐlai (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄧˇ ㄌㄞˊ → ㄑㄧˇ ˙ㄌㄞ (toneless final syllable variant)
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cǐlåi
    • Wade–Giles: chʻi³-lai⁵
    • Yale: chǐ-lai
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chii.lai
    • Palladius: цилай (cilaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi²¹⁴⁻²¹ laɪ̯³⁵/ → /t͡ɕʰi²¹⁴ laɪ̯⁴/
  • (Dungan)
    • Cyrillic and Wiktionary: челэ (či͡əle, II-I)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰiə⁵¹ lɛ²⁴/

    (Note: Dungan pronunciation is currently experimental and may be inaccurate.)

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hei² loi⁴
    • Yale: héi lòih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hei² loi⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: héi² loi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hei̯³⁵ lɔːi̯²¹/
• Hakka
  • (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: hí-lòi
    • Hakka Romanization System: hi^ˋ loi^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: hi³ loi²
    • Sinological IPA: /hi³¹ loi̯¹¹/
• Jin
  • (Taiyuan)⁺
    • Wiktionary: qi² lai¹
    • Sinological IPA (old-style): /t͡ɕʰi⁵³ lai¹¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: khí--lâi / khiai
    • Tâi-lô: khí--lâi / khiai

Note:

• 起 is in the citation tone and 來 is toneless when 起來 is at the end of a phrase;
• both 起 and 來 are toneless as a complement;
• both 起 and 來 undergo tone sandhi when the 起來 is not at the end of a phrase;
• khiai - contraction.

• (Teochew)
  • Peng'im: ki² lai⁵
  • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: khí lâi
  • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʰi⁵²⁻³⁵ lai⁵⁵/
• Wu
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ⁵chi-le
    • MiniDict: chi^去 le
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ²qi-le
    • Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /t͡ɕʰi³³ le⁴⁴/

Verb

起⫽來 (verb-complement)

1. to rise up; to get up
   • 1935, “義勇軍進行曲 [March of the Volunteers]”, 田漢 [Tian Han] (lyrics):

     起來！不願做奴隸的人們！ [MSC, trad.]
     起来！不愿做奴隶的人们！ [MSC, simp.]

     Qǐlái! Bùyuàn zuò núlì de rénmen! [Pinyin]

     Arise! those who will not be slaves!

2. to get up; to get out of bed
3. placed after a verb to indicate that the action has started

   忙起來／忙起来  ―  máng qǐlai  ―  to get busy

   熱起來／热起来  ―  rè qǐlai  ―  to get hot

   好起來／好起来  ―  hǎo qǐlai  ―  to get better

   發展起來／发展起来  ―  fāzhǎn qǐlai  ―  to begin to develop

   突然哭起來／突然哭起来  ―  tūrán kū qǐlai  ―  to burst into tears

4. placed after a verb to form a copular verb, expressing evaluation based on initial perception

   這主意聽起來不錯。 [MSC, trad.]
   这主意听起来不错。 [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè zhǔyì tīng qǐlai bùcuò. [Pinyin]

   That sounds like a good idea.

   他看起來很有活力。 [MSC, trad.]
   他看起来很有活力。 [MSC, simp.]

   Tā kàn qǐlai hěn yǒu huólì. [Pinyin]

   He looks very energetic.

5. (Southern Min) to go up
6. (Taiwanese Hokkien) to go north

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 起床 (“to get up; to get out of bed”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		起床, 起來, 起身
Northeastern Mandarin	Beijing	起床, 起來
	Taiwan	起床, 起來
	Chifeng	起床, 起來
	Hulunbuir (Hailar)	起床, 起來
	Harbin	起床, 起床
	Shenyang	起床, 起來, 起身
	Singapore	起床, 起身
Jilu Mandarin	Tianjin	起來
	Tangshan	起床, 起來
	Cangzhou	起來
	Baoding	起床, 起來
	Shijiazhuang	起來
	Jinan	起床
Jiaoliao Mandarin	Yantai (Muping)	起來
	Qingdao	起來
Central Plains Mandarin	Luoyang	起床, 起來
	Wanrong	起來, 起
	Zhengzhou	起來
	Xi'an	起來
	Xining	起床
	Xuzhou	起床, 起, 起來
Lanyin Mandarin	Yinchuan	起, 起來, 起床
	Lanzhou	起床, 起來
	Ürümqi	起床, 起來
Southwestern Mandarin	Chengdu	爬起來, 起床, 起來
	Chongqing	起床, 起來
	Wuhan	起床, 起身, 起去
	Guiyang	起來, 起床, 扒起來, 扒起
	Kunming	起床
	Guilin	起來
	Liuzhou	起來, 起身
	Dagudi (Maliba)	爬起
	Reshuitang (Longling)	起床
	Mae Salong (Lancang)	爬起, 起床
	Mae Sai (Tengchong)	起床
Jianghuai Mandarin	Nanjing	爬起來, 起來, 起床
	Yangzhou	起床, 起來
	Nantong	起來
	Hefei	起來
Cantonese	Guangzhou	起身
	Hong Kong	起身
	Hong Kong (San Tin; Weitou)	起身
	Hong Kong (Kam Tin; Weitou)	起身
	Hong Kong (Ting Kok)	起身
	Hong Kong (Tung Ping Chau)	起身
	Macau	起身
	Guangzhou (Panyu)	起身
	Guangzhou (Huashan, Huadu)	起身
	Guangzhou (Conghua)	起身
	Guangzhou (Zengcheng)	起身
	Foshan	起身
	Foshan (Shatou, Nanhai)	起身
	Foshan (Shunde)	起身
	Foshan (Sanshui)	起身
	Foshan (Mingcheng, Gaoming)	起身
	Zhongshan (Shiqi)	起身
	Zhuhai (Qianshan, Xiangzhou)	起身
	Zhuhai (Shangheng, Doumen; Tanka)	起身
	Zhuhai (Doumen)	起身
	Jiangmen (Baisha)	起身
	Jiangmen (Xinhui)	起身
	Taishan	起身
	Kaiping (Chikan)	起身
	Enping (Niujiang)	起身
	Heshan (Yayao)	起身
	Dongguan	起身
	Shenzhen (Shajing, Bao'an)	起身
	Nanning	起身, 起床
	Hepu (Lianzhou)	起身
	Hepu (Shatian)	爬起身
	Beihai	起身
	Beihai (Nankang)	起身
	Beihai (Yingpan)	起身
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cô Tô)	起身
	Beihai (Qiaogang - Cát Bà)	起身
	Fangchenggang (Fangcheng)	起身
	Kuala Lumpur (Guangfu)	起身
	Singapore (Guangfu)	起身
	Ho Chi Minh City (Guangfu)	起身
	Móng Cái	起身
	Yangon (Taishan)	下床
	Mandalay (Taishan)	起身
Gan	Nanchang	起來, 起床
	Lichuan	條起
	Pingxiang	起頭
Hakka	Meixian	䟘床, 䟘身, 起身
	Huizhou (Huicheng; Bendihua)	起身
	Dongguan (Qingxi)	䟘床
	Boluo (Bendihua)	起身
	Shenzhen (Shatoujiao)	䟘床
	Zhongshan (Wuguishan)	䟘床
	Zhongshan (Nanlang Heshui)	䟘床
	Wuhua (Shuizhai)	䟘床
	Wuhua (Huacheng)	䟘床
	Wuhua (Changbu)	䟘床
	Wuhua (Mianyang)	䟘床
	Heyuan (Bendihua)	起身
	Longchuan (Tuocheng; Bendihua)	起身
	Heping (Linzhai; Bendihua)	起身
	Lianping (Longjie; Bendihua)	起身
	Guangzhou (Lütian, Conghua)	起床
	Jiexi	䟘起
	Yudu	起床, 條起
	Shicheng	䟘床
	Shangyou (Shexi)	條起
	Miaoli (N. Sixian)	䟘床
	Pingtung (Neipu; S. Sixian)	䟘床
	Hsinchu County (Zhudong; Hailu)	䟘床
	Taichung (Dongshi; Dabu)	䟘床
	Hsinchu County (Qionglin; Raoping)	跆起
	Yunlin (Lunbei; Zhao'an)	起床, 起來
	Hong Kong	䟘身
	Senai (Huiyang)	䟘身
Huizhou	Jixi	爬才
	Shexian	起床, 起來
Jin	Taiyuan	起床, 起
	Xinzhou	起
Northern Min	Jian'ou	起來
Eastern Min	Fuzhou	趉, 爬起
Southern Min	Xiamen	起來, 起床
	Quanzhou	起來, 起床
	Zhangzhou	起來, 起床
	Zhao'an	起來
	Taipei	起床 GT, 起來 GT
	Tainan	起床
	Singapore (Hokkien)	起來
	Manila (Hokkien)	起來
	Chaozhou	走起
	Shantou	起床, 起身, 走起, 起來
	Shantou (Chenghai)	走起
	Jieyang	走起
	Puning	走醒, 走起
	Haifeng	起身
	Bangkok (Teochew)	走起
	Johor Bahru (Teochew)	走起
	Singapore (Teochew)	起來, 走起
	Wenchang	起床
	Haikou	起床
Puxian Min	Putian	爬起
	Putian (Donghai, Chengxiang)	加起, 爬起
	Putian (Jiangkou, Hanjiang)	爬起
	Putian (Nanri, Xiuyu)	爬起
	Xianyou	蹻爬起
	Xianyou (Fengting)	蹻爬起
	Xianyou (Youyang)	蹻爬起
Zhongshan Min	Zhongshan (Longdu, Shaxi)	頭起
Southern Pinghua	Nanning (Tingzi)	起床
Wu	Shanghai	䟿起來, 爬起來, 起來
	Shanghai (Chongming)	𨂝出來
	Suzhou	起來
	Danyang	起床, 起來
	Hangzhou	爬起來
	Hangzhou (Yuhang)	爬起來, 爬起, 走起來, 走起
	Ningbo	爬起, 爬起來
	Wenzhou	爬起
	Jinhua	爬挈來, 爬挈
Xiang	Changsha	起床
	Loudi	起去, 起來, 起床
Note	GT - General Taiwanese (no specific region identified)

Derived terms

• 全世界無產者，聯合起來 / 全世界无产者，联合起来 (quánshìjiè wúchǎnzhě, liánhé qǐlái)
• 看起來 / 看起来 (kànqilai)
• 站起來 / 站起来 (zhàn qǐlai)
• 聽起來 / 听起来 (tīngqǐlai)

Further reading

• “Entry #6740”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.