起来
HSK 2 (exam 2025)HSK 1 (2021)Old HSK 3
起来 (qǐlai) · to get up
起来 (qǐlai) means “to get up; to stand up; to start”. It is written with 2 characters: 起 (to get up) + 来 (to come). It is an HSK 2 word in the current exam syllabus (2025).
How 起来 is built
The characters
起 qǐ · to get up
What 起 is made of
- 走zǒu — to walk
- 土tǔ — earth
- 十 — ten
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 止zhǐ — to stop
- 上shàng — up
- 丨 — vertical stroke
- 土tǔ — earth
- 己jǐ — self
- 乚 — hook stroke
Origin hint: 走 gives the meaning, 己 gives the sound. (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
来 lái · to come
What 来 is made of
- 未wèi — not yet
- 一 — horizontal stroke
- 木mù — tree
- 十 — ten
- 八bā — eight
- 丷ha — kwukyel
- 丶 — dot
Origin hint: A wheat plant that has not yet borne fruit; compare 來 (from the Make Me a Hanzi dataset; treat as a memory aid where history is uncertain)
Example sentences
快起来，八点了！Kuài qǐlai, bā diǎn le!Get up, it's eight o'clock!
大家都笑起来了。Dàjiā dōu xiào qǐlai le.Everyone started laughing.
Questions about 起来
What does 起来 mean?
起来 (qǐlai) means “to get up; to stand up; to start”.
How do you pronounce 起来?
起来 is pronounced qǐlai.
Which HSK level is 起来?
起来 is in HSK 2 (exam 2025) and HSK 1 (2021) and Old HSK 3.
Related words
- 对不起duìbuqǐsorry
- 起床qǐchuángto get out of bed
- 一起yīqǐtogether
- 起飞qǐfēito take off (of a plane)
- 想起xiǎngqǐto remember
- 看起来kàn qǐlaito look like
- 看不起kànbuqǐto look down on
- 了不起liǎobuqǐamazing
- 引起yǐnqǐto cause
- 起草qǐcǎoto draft
Learn 起来 with its group
It is part of HSK 1 (2021) · Group 41: a short group with quick checks and spaced repeats.