他跑了起來。

He began to run.

Source: Tatoeba

Sentence Composition

1 他 tā
  1. (third-person singular) (since the early 20th century, usu. male) he; him; his
  2. (bound form) other; another; some other (as in 他日 tārì and 他人 tārén)
=2 跑 páo (of an animal) to paw (the ground)
=2 跑 pǎo
  1. to run
  2. to run away
  3. to escape
  4. to run around (on errands etc)
  5. (of a gas or liquid) to leak or evaporate
  6. (verb complement) away
  7. off
=3 了 le
  1. (completed action marker)
  2. (modal particle indicating change of state, situation now)
  3. (modal particle intensifying preceding clause)
=3 了 liǎo
  1. to finish
  2. (used with 得 dé or 不 bù after a verb to express (im)possibility, as in 忘不了 wàngbuliǎo "cannot forget")
  3. (literary) (usually followed by a negative such as 無 wú or 不 bù) completely (not); entirely (not); (not) in the least
  4. to understand clearly (variant of 瞭 liǎo)
=3 了 liǎo
  1. (of eyes) bright
  2. clear-sighted
  3. to understand clearly
=3 了 liào unofficial variant of 瞭 liào
=4 起來 qǐlai
  1. to stand up; to get up
  2. also pr. qǐlái
=4 起來 qilai
  1. (after a verb) indicating the beginning and continuation of an action or a state
  2. indicating an upward movement (e.g. after 站 zhàn)
  3. indicating completion
  4. (after a perception verb, e.g. 看 kàn) expressing preliminary judgment
  5. also pr. qǐlai
=4 起來 qǐlái
  1. placed after a verb to form a copular verb, expressing evaluation based on initial perception
  2. placed after a verb to indicate that the action has started
  3. to get up; to get out of bed
  4. to rise up; to get up