结果补语
Resultative complements

第五级你就会说“我看见他了”“我听懂了”“我记住了”。这三句话里都有两个动作成分：看是动作，见是结果；听是动作，懂是结果；记是动作，住是结果。汉语不用另造一个词表示“成功了”，它把结果直接贴在动词后边。动词后边这个说结果的成分，叫结果补语；整个格式叫述补结构，也叫动结式。

You have said 我看见他了, 我听懂了 and 我记住了 since level 5. Each holds two pieces: 看 is the act and 见 is the result, 听 is the act and 懂 is the result, 记 is the act and 住 is the result. Chinese does not invent a separate word for 'succeeded' — it sticks the outcome straight onto the verb. That outcome part is the 结果补语, and the whole shape is a 述补结构, also called 动结式.

这是汉语和英语很不一样的地方：我看了他半天，可是没看见他——看了不等于看见。同样，我找了一个小时，没找到；我听了，可是没听懂。所以说话的时候要先问自己：我是想说做了这件事，还是想说做成了这件事？

Here Chinese parts company with English. 看了 does not amount to 看见: you can look for a long time and still not see. Likewise 我找了一个小时，没找到 and 我听了，可是没听懂. So before you speak, ask yourself which you mean — that you did it, or that you pulled it off.

记住这一点，很多错误就不会犯了：看见、写完、听懂在句子里的地位跟一个普通动词完全一样。所以了跟在后边——我看见了他；宾语也跟在后边——我写完作业了。中间是不能进东西的。

Hold on to this and a whole family of mistakes disappears: 看见, 写完 and 听懂 occupy exactly the slot an ordinary verb occupies. So 了 comes after the pair — 我看见了他 — and so does the object: 我写完作业了. Nothing may squeeze in between.

为什么一定是没？因为结果是一件事实现了没有的问题，只有两种答案；而“不”否定的是习惯和意愿，跟实现不实现没有关系。所以说我没听懂，不说“我不听懂”。还要记住：没和了不同时出现——我没写完作业，后边不再加了。

Why always 没? Because a result is a question of whether something came off, and 不 deals with habits and willingness instead. Hence 我没听懂, never 我不听懂. And remember that 没 and 了 do not appear together: 我没写完作业 takes no 了 at the end.

补语可以是动词，也可以是形容词：见、懂、到、住是动词，好、错、清楚、干净是形容词。它们跟哪个动词搭配，是有习惯的，要一对一对地记：吃完、做好、看见、记住、洗干净。记住二十对，日常说话就够用了。

A complement may be a verb (见, 懂, 到, 住) or an adjective (好, 错, 清楚, 干净). Which pairs with which is a matter of habit, so learn them in pairs: 吃完, 做好, 看见, 记住, 洗干净. Twenty pairs will carry you through ordinary conversation.