I want to ask whether something takes — whether two people click, or whether I can get the hang of a thing.
序 · The move
1Take the verb of engaging or managing: 合, 做, 學, 吃, 玩, 談.Is the question whether it clicks or comes off, not where anything moves? 來 here is not direction.
2Wedge 得 for it works out, 不 for it never takes, then close with 來.得來 = it meshes; 不來 = it won't catch. Did 得/不 land between the verb and 來?
3Name the thing or person engaged with, if any, after 來 — or leave 合得來 / 做得來 standing alone.No 能/會 in front; the can/can't already sits inside the verb.
例 · Examples
1暑假的實習生intern和我們年紀差不多大about the same age，大家都很合得來get along (the fit comes off)。
The summer interns are about our age, and everyone gets along well.
可能補語 is the whole machine V得/不+any result. V得/不來 is the instance where the result is 來 — the doing coming off and meshing (合得來 click, 做得來 pull it off), not a physical arrival or a graspable outcome like 懂 or 到.
Directional 來 (拿來, 回得來) is real motion toward the speaker — something travels here. In V得/不來 nothing moves; 來 marks the action settling into a fit. 走得來 (can get here on foot) is direction; 合得來 (get along) is this point.
Degree 得 (做得好, how well it went) reports the manner of a done act. Potential 得來 gates whether the act takes at all — possibility, not appraisal. 合得來 (they click) has no how-well reading at all.
✗ 大家都很合來 → ✓ 大家都很合得來 (the potential 來 needs 得 wedged in; bare 合來 is not the get-along form)
✗ 他們不合得來 → ✓ 他們合不來 (negate inside: swap 得 for 不 between verb and 來, don't stack 不 in front)
✗ 這個工作我能做得來嗎 → ✓ 這個工作我做得來嗎 (the can already lives in 得來; drop the front 能)
English 'get along' / 'can manage' puts the ability in a separate word; learners reach for 能/會 and lose the 得/不 infix. The ability sits inside, between the verb and 來.