说起来

• Pinyin: shuō qǐ lái
• Hanzi breakdown: 说 = 言 + 兑; 起 = 走 (walk) + 己 (self) — to rise, to start; 来 = pictograph of a wheat plant — to come

Meaning

Speaking of which; when it comes to it; come to think of it. A discourse marker that introduces a topic, reflection, or qualifying remark.

A versatile sentence-initial phrase with several uses: (1) introducing a topic (说起来这件事…); (2) expressing that in theory something should be one way, but in reality it is different (说起来容易做起来难); (3) reflecting on something that just came to mind. Very common in both spoken and written Chinese.

Examples

1. 说起来，我们已经好几年没有见面了，时间真的过得很快。 Come to think of it, we haven’t seen each other in years—time really flies.
2. 说起来容易，真正要坚持每天锻炼一个小时，没有强大的意志力是做不到的。 It’s easy to say, but sticking to an hour of exercise every day takes real willpower.
3. 说起来这件事还挺有意思的，当初谁也没有预料到会有这样的结局。 Come to think of it, this was pretty interesting—no one expected it would end like this.

Usage Guide

Context: conversation, reflection, discourse, transition

Tone: reflective

Do Say

• 说起来，这项技术早在十年前就已经有了初步研究，只是当时的硬件条件限制了它的实际应用。(Come to think of it, this technology already had preliminary research as far back as ten years ago; it was only the hardware limitations of the time that restricted its practical application.)
• 说起来这两家公司的发展路径非常相似，都是从一个细分市场起步，然后逐步扩展到更广泛的领域。(Speaking of which, the development trajectories of these two companies are remarkably similar — both started from a niche market and gradually expanded into broader fields.)

Don't Say

• 不能将 说起来 与 说起 混淆 — 说起来 is a discourse marker introducing a topic or reflection, while 说起 means 'to mention/bring up' and must be followed by a noun object

Origin & History

说 (speak) + 起来 (directional complement indicating initiation) — to bring up in speech, when speaking of it

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal