Resultative Endings

A strange name, but a very useful concept in Chinese grammar. Resultative endings are single syllables (single characters) tacked onto the end of verbs to express something about the result of the action. Technically, they're considered adverbial particles, because they modify the preceding verb.

The following tables list the most common resultative endings, as well as many of their frequently used verb + RE combinations. Besides being a good study guide for RE's, these tables also reinforce the idea that Chinese characters are not words in and of their own, but that they are morphemes that merely suggest a meaning or concept, and that they must be combined with other morphemes to form words with concrete meanings.

住 - indicates that an action that resulted in a steady, stabilized situation

停住	ting2 zhu4	to stop, bring to a halt	停 means 'to stop'
站住	zhan4 zhu4	Halt! Stop!	站 means 'to stand'
拿住	na2 zhu4	to take hold of	拿 means 'to take'
按住	an4 zhu4	to press down, restrain	按 means 'to press'
抓住	zhua1 zhu4	to hold tight, apprehend someone	抓 means 'to grasp, seize'
記住	ji4 zhu4	to commit to memory, keep in mind	記 means 'to remember'
留住	liu2 zhu4	to retain, keep someone from departing	留 means 'to remain, stay'
黏住	nian2 zhu4	to glue or paste down, also to adhere	黏 means 'to paste'
塞住	sai1 zhu4	to stuff or block up completely	塞 means 'a cork'
鎖住	suo3 zhu4	to lock up	鎖 means 'a lock'

完 - indicates that a task has been completed<

做完	zuo4 wan2	done	做 means 'to do'
賣完	mai4 wan2	sold out	賣 means 'to sell'
吃完	chi1 wan2	to finish one's food	吃 means 'to eat'

光 - indicates that an action has been carriedd out completely, to an extreme

脫光	tuo1 guang1	to strip naked	脫 means 'to take off'
吃光	chi1 guang1	to eat up	吃 means 'to eat'
用光	yong4 guang1	to use up	用 means 'to use'

掉 - indicates that something has been lost or irrecoverably altered

丟掉	diu1 diao4	to lose, misplace, throw away	丟 means 'to lose or drop'
扔掉	reng1 diao4	to discard	扔 means 'to cast'
忘掉	wang4 diao4	to forget	忘 means 'to forget'
吃掉	chi1 diao4	all eaten up	吃 means 'to eat'
關掉	guan1 diao4	to turn off	關 means 'to close'
拆掉	chai1 diao4	to demolish, tear down	拆 means 'to rip open, tear down'
除掉	chu2 diao4	to eliminate, remove	除 means 'to remove'
砍掉	kan3 diao4	to chop off	砍 means 'to chop'

好 - indicates a satisfactory outcome

弄好	nong4 hao3	to complete	弄 means 'to make, do'
學好	xue2 hao3	to learn something	學 means 'to study'
約好	yue1 hao3	agree to, arrange to	約 means 'a treaty or contract'
治好	zhi4 hao3	to cure (illness)	治 means 'to cure'
修好	xiu1 hao3	to fix, repair	修 means 'to fix'

壞 - indicates an unsatisfactory outcome, or that something has been broken or ruined

弄壞	nong4 huai4	to break, ruin	弄 means 'to make, do'
破壞	po4 huai4	to break, ruin	破 means 'to break'
損壞	sun2 huai4	to damage	損 means 'to harm'
變壞	bian4 huai4	to worsen, deteriorate	變 means 'to change'
寵壞	chong3 huai4	to spoil someone	寵 means 'to favor'

滿 - indicates completion, fulfillment, or literal filling up

加滿	jia1 man3	to fill up (gasoline,etc.)	加 means 'to add'
填滿	tian4 man3	to fill up (a cup, a form)	加 means 'to fill'
充滿	chong1 man3	to be full of (smoke, etc.)	裡面充滿了黑煙 (li3 mian4 chong1 man3 le hei1 yan1) - 'the interior is full of black smoke'
屆滿	jie4 man3	to expire (term of office)	屆 refers to a term or session, as in 第二十九屆奧運 (di4 er4 shi2 jiu3 jie4 ao4 yun4) - 'the 29th Olympic Games'

開 - indicates that something has been opened<

打開	da3 kai1	to open	打 means 'to hit, handle, make'
分開	fen1 kai1	to separate	分 means 'to distinguish, separate'
拆開	chai1 kai1	to rip open	拆 means 'to rip open, tear down'
切開	qie1 kai1	to cut open	切 means 'to cut'
睜開	zheng1 kai1	to open the eyes	睜 means 'to open the eyes'
張開	zhang1 kai1	to stretch open	張 means 'to stretch, spread'
散開	san3 kai1	to disperse	散 means 'to scatter'

合 - indicates combination, joining, coming together

綜合	zong4 he2	to blend, synthesize	綜 means 'to weave, blend', implies that a recipe or procedure is being strictly followed
混合	hun3 he2	to mix, combine	混 means 'to mix, confuse'
結合	jie2 he2	to join, unite	結 means 'to tie, knot'
聯合	lian2 he2	to unite	聯 means 'to join, ally', as in 聯合國 (lian2 he2 guo2) - United Nations
整合	zheng3 he2	to integrate	整 means 'to rectify, put in order'
組合	zu3 he2	to assemble, combine	組 means 'to organize, arrange'
集合	ji2 he2	to gather	集 means 'to gather, collect'
融合	rong2 he2	to fuse	融 means 'to fuse, melt'
符合	fu2 he2	to match	符 means 'to match
配合	rong2 he2	to cooridinate	配 means 'to match, suit'