How to use 来、去
来 / 去 + Place
来 and 去 describe movement in relation to a viewpoint. 来 normally presents movement toward the speaker or relevant center, while 去 presents movement away toward another destination. A place can follow either verb directly. Choosing between them therefore depends on where the movement is viewed from, not merely on the destination's name.
Conversation may establish a shared reference place, so the speaker's physical location is a useful starting point rather than the only factor in every case. These verbs also combine with other direction words in expressions for entering, leaving, and returning. The same toward-or-away distinction remains helpful when later learning directional complements attached to more specific action verbs.
Examples with pinyin and English
妈妈要去超市。
Mom will go to the supermarket.
老板今天来公司吗？
Is the boss coming into the office today?
你现在来南京路吧。
Come to Nanjing Road now.
你不想来我们公司工作吗？
Do you not want to come to work for our company?
What to remember
- Choose the relevant viewpoint first.
- 来 brings movement toward that center.
- 去 presents movement away toward another place.
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Source and editorial notes
Explanation rewritten for Laowai. Examples are adapted from the Laowai English grammar curriculum, with editorial corrections where needed. The original curriculum credits AllSet Learning’s Chinese Grammar Wiki as used with permission. Read the retained source credits.
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