Resultative Compounds

Resultative compounds combine a verb with a result that tells you the outcome of the action. The verb says WHAT you did; the result says HOW it turned out. This is one of the most productive patterns in Chinese.

好 hou2 as result = 'properly / well / done': 做好 zou6 hou2 (done properly), 煮好 zyu2 hou2 (cooked/ready), 整好 zing2 hou2 (fixed/made). 你做好未？nei5 zou6 hou2 mei6? (Have you finished doing it?). Same as Mandarin 做好.

完 jyun4 as result = 'finished': 食完 sik6 jyun4 (finished eating), 做完 zou6 jyun4 (finished doing), 睇完 tai2 jyun4 (finished watching). 食完飯未？sik6 jyun4 faan6 mei6? (Have you finished eating?). Same structure as Mandarin 吃完.

到 dou3 as result = 'successfully reached': 搵到 wan2 dou3 (found — successfully searched), 聽到 teng1 dou3 (heard — sound reached you), 睇到 tai2 dou3 (saw/can see). 你聽到嗎？nei5 teng1 dou3 maa3? (Did you hear / can you hear?).

明 ming4 as result = 'understood': 睇明 tai2 ming4 (read and understood), 聽明 teng1 ming4 (heard and understood). Note: Cantonese uses 明 ming4 where Mandarin often uses 懂 dǒng: 睇明 = Mandarin 看懂, 聽明 = Mandarin 聽懂.

Cantonese-specific results: 掂 dim6 (sorted/settled) — 搞掂 gaau2 dim6 (handled/sorted), 傾掂 king1 dim6 (negotiated successfully). 通 tung1 (through) — 諗通 nam2 tung1 (thought it through / figured it out). 親 can1 (accidentally) — 跌親 dit3 can1 (fell and got hurt), 撞親 zong6 can1 (bumped into and got hurt).