---
title: "verb + 下去 (keep on) in Chinese Grammar: Keep on doing it, With Examples"
description: "verb + 下去 (keep on): keep on doing it; continue. Verb + 下去: continue doing it from now on — 坚持下去 “keep going”. 4 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-xiaqu"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

# verb + 下去 (keep on)

Keep on doing it; continue

Verb + 下去: continue doing it from now on — 坚持下去 “keep going”.

## In stories

小远等着她**说下去**，等了很久，只等到一句：“不早了，睡吧。”

[上海弄堂（一） · The Shanghai lane (part 1)](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/grandmas-notebook-book-2-shanghai-lane-part-1#library-word-53-56) HSK 3

山里的神听说了，有点儿害怕：这家人真的会一直**挖下去**！

[愚公移山 · The foolish old man who moved the mountains](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/yu-gong-yi-shan-the-foolish-old-man-who-moved-mountains#library-word-443-446) HSK 4

他们住在很远的山洞里，可以永远**活下去**。”

[拜师学艺 · A Teacher Across the Sea](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/a-teacher-across-the-sea-journey-to-the-west-intermediate-chinese-2#library-word-147-150) HSK 5

不过，如果这个传说是真的，那就有意思了：刘安想让自己永远**活下去**，没有成功；

[豆腐是谁发明的？ · Who invented tofu? The legend of Liu An](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/who-invented-tofu#library-word-601-604) HSK 5

[Read 上海弄堂（一）](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/grandmas-notebook-book-2-shanghai-lane-part-1#library-word-53-56)

## More patterns

- [去/来 + place + verb (go somewhere to do something) go somewhere to do something](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/qu-place-v)
- [verb + 来 + verb + 去 do something over and over; back and forth](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-lai-v-qu)
- [在 + … + 下 under …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/zai-xia-place)
- [把 + object + verb do something to … (and it ends up changed)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/ba)
- [verb (+ 了) + duration (for how long) for … (how long … lasts)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/duration)
- [verb + 得 + complement says how something is done (how well, how much, with what result)](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-de-c)

## What does verb + 下去 (keep on) mean in Chinese?

Keep on doing it; continue. Verb + 下去: continue doing it from now on — 坚持下去 “keep going”.

## How common is verb + 下去 (keep on)?

It comes up in 8 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

## More free tools

- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.