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I learned that in Chinese counterproductive is 起到反作用 or 起反作用
I'm trying to figure out what the characters or words mean in this phrase.
I know 作用 means result or effect here, 反 means opposite. How does 起 fit in here and what part of speech is it? Is 到 necessary, or is it a completed action marker here?
Many thanks!
起 = establish
作用 = effect
起作用 = take effect
反(opposite) --> (opposite of positive = negative)
起反作用 = take opposite (negative) effect --> The opposite result of the intended goal = counterproductive
When your action cause a positive/productive effect, that is 起(正面)作用
When your action cause a negative/ counterproductive, effect, that is 起反面作用 = 起反作用
正面 in 起正面作用 is omitted because the term 'effect' is presumed positive.
Example:
突襲起了作用 -- The raid took effect (a positive effect/ result of improving the odds of winning)
突襲起了反作用 -- The raid took opposite effect (a negative effect/ result of worsening the odds of winning)
'到' in '起到作用' is a verb particle that indicates the verb is succefully completed
I think you can see it nicely here:
作为回应采取了一些措施，
Some measures adopted in response,
比如限制出口，
such as export restrictions,
起到了强烈的反作用。
led to (a) strong counter-effect. = have been highly counterproductive.
起到： give rise to
反作用： opposite, counter-effect
