<p>提高 literally means "<em>lift/raise sth. up</em>". Its extended meaning is <em>improve or make a progress</em>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>他提高得很快</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In this sentence, you have used the <strong>extended meaning</strong>(improve) of 提高. The whole sentence can be translated to: <em>He improved rapidly/very fast</em>. </p>

<p>In my opinion, if you use its extended meaning, then it's not a 离合词 because you can't separate it. Well, it can be considered as a 离合词 when it denotes its literal meaning(lift up), because it is separable . For example, you can say 提得高.  </p>

<p>PS. As the comment pointed out, 提得很高 is more common than 提得高 in practice. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T02:59:21.980Z
allowing for 得, 提得高 does not seem very common, much more common 提得很高 (cf. comment #3)、太高、 过高
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T03:02:21.230Z
@user6065, your point is taken. I just want to say that it's separable when it means its literal meaning.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T04:35:30.813Z
@dan How do you advise learning 离合词 words and what they look like when complements are appended? I now get how 提高 works with extended meaning, but some words such as 打折 are separable whereas some are not. This is quite confusing.
金允雄Oliver
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T04:38:59.910Z
@金允雄Oliver you might have to grab a grammar book to understand the whole picture of it. Or, you can have a search online, for example a baidu search.
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T04:40:39.013Z
@金允雄Oliver this is the one from baidu: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%A6%BB%E5%90%88%E8%AF%8D/2984414?fr=aladdin
dan
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-28T02:34:52.160Z
@金允雄Oliver You can also say 他们打折很多，我不忍住的话就买。So I don't see a strict distinction. The meanings are somewhat different. Yours was "They took a lot of discount, I buy if I cannot stop myself." Mine is "They discounted a lot, I buy if I do not stop myself."
Nimrod
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T02:39:00.730Z
2018-07-27T03:12:20.507Z
2018-07-27T03:12:20.507Z
dan
<p>For your question, I would say, 提高 is not a 离合词，you would not usually say</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>提了很高</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T02:06:08.090Z
2018-07-27T02:17:52.507Z
2018-07-27T02:17:52.507Z
zyy
<p>How do you append degree complement to a 离合词 such as 提高？</p>

<p>I naively came up with 他提高得很快, but then I remembered for 离合词 words such as 打折， I had to construct somewhat differently such as 他们打了很多折，我忍不住就买。 (credits to Dan who made this clear for me)</p>

<p>I am guessing the same would apply for 提高？</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T02:23:03.057Z
高 can be considered result complement of verb 提,
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T02:25:10.540Z
So if I were to use result complement, I would say 提得很高？
金允雄Oliver
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T02:30:08.377Z
proposed phrase appears correct, cf. bkrs 把自己的要求提得很高, although得很高 now seems to function as degree complement to verb  提
user6065
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-27T03:33:58.613Z
maybe 高 in 提高 should not be considered a complement of result, (there do not seem to exist corresponding potential complements ＊提得高、＊提不高）提高 may simply  be compound of type 动＋形，like 说明，降低、
user6065
<grammar>
提高 and degree complement
# 提高 and degree complement

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-07-27)

How do you append degree complement to a 离合词 such as 提高？

I naively came up with 他提高得很快, but then I remembered for 离合词 words such as 打折， I had to construct somewhat differently such as 他们打了很多折，我忍不住就买。 (credits to Dan who made this clear for me)

I am guessing the same would apply for 提高？

Thanks.

**Tags:** grammar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 高 can be considered result complement of verb 提,  
> **username_0**: So if I were to use result complement, I would say 提得很高？  
> **username_1**: proposed phrase appears correct, cf. bkrs 把自己的要求提得很高, although得很高 now seems to function as degree complement to verb  提  
> **username_1**: maybe 高 in 提高 should not be considered a complement of result, (there do not seem to exist corresponding potential complements ＊提得高、＊提不高）提高 may simply  be compound of type 动＋形，like 说明，降低、  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-07-27. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

提高 literally means "*lift/raise sth. up*". Its extended meaning is *improve or make a progress*.

> 他提高得很快

In this sentence, you have used the **extended meaning**(improve) of 提高. The whole sentence can be translated to: *He improved rapidly/very fast*.

In my opinion, if you use its extended meaning, then it's not a 离合词 because you can't separate it. Well, it can be considered as a 离合词 when it denotes its literal meaning(lift up), because it is separable . For example, you can say 提得高.

PS. As the comment pointed out, 提得很高 is more common than 提得高 in practice.

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: allowing for 得, 提得高 does not seem very common, much more common 提得很高 (cf. comment #3)、太高、 过高  
> **username_2**: @username_1, your point is taken. I just want to say that it's separable when it means its literal meaning.  
> **username_0**: @username_2 How do you advise learning 离合词 words and what they look like when complements are appended? I now get how 提高 works with extended meaning, but some words such as 打折 are separable whereas some are not. This is quite confusing.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 you might have to grab a grammar book to understand the whole picture of it. Or, you can have a search online, for example a baidu search.  
> **username_2**: @username_0 this is the one from baidu: https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E7%A6%BB%E5%90%88%E8%AF%8D/2984414?fr=aladdin  
> **username_3**: @username_0 You can also say 他们打折很多，我不忍住的话就买。So I don't see a strict distinction. The meanings are somewhat different. Yours was "They took a lot of discount, I buy if I cannot stop myself." Mine is "They discounted a lot, I buy if I do not stop myself."  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2018-07-27. Score: 0

For your question, I would say, 提高 is not a 离合词，you would not usually say

> 提了很高


---

