Figurative 下去: continuing
补语 / complements
Tone colorsā tone 1á tone 2ǎ tone 3à tone 4a neutral
Verb + 下去 ｜ Adj (negative) + 下去
After a verb, 下去 shows an action continues from now on: 说下去 (go on talking), 坚持下去 (keep going).
After an adjective (often negative), it shows a state will keep getting worse: 天气会冷下去.
With the potential form: V不下去 = can't go on: 我看不下去了 (I can't bear to watch any more). Compare: 起来 = starting, 下去 = continuing.
Examples
这个节目很受欢迎，希望能一直做下去。
Zhège jiémù hěn shòu huānyíng, xīwàng néng yìzhí zuò xiaqu.This show is very popular: hopefully it'll keep going.
你说得很好，请继续说下去。
Nǐ shuō de hěn hǎo, qǐng jìxù shuō xiaqu.You're doing great: please go on.
这种假新闻，我真的看不下去了。
Zhè zhǒng jiǎ xīnwén, wǒ zhēn de kàn bu xiàqu le.I really can't stand watching this kind of fake news any more.
Common mistakes
✗ 我要下去学习中文。 → 下去 follows the verb. ✓ 我要学下去。/ 我要继续学中文。
✗ With an object: ✗ 学下去中文 → rephrase: ✓ 继续学中文。