How to use 来自
Subject + 来自 + Place / Source
来自 identifies the origin of a person, object, idea, or influence. Put the thing whose origin you are describing before 来自, then name its source afterward. A source can be a country or city, but it can also be a person’s advice, everyday experience, or another nonphysical origin. The construction is useful in introductions and explanatory writing.
来自 expresses a source relationship rather than necessarily describing a journey happening now. It can therefore describe books and ideas as naturally as people. When the source phrase modifies a noun, 的 connects the full 来自 phrase to that noun. Keep the source distinct from a destination, which 来自 does not introduce.
Examples with pinyin and English
我来自中国。
I come from China.
这些书都来自日本。
These books all come from Japan.
我们公司的客户来自美国。
Our company's clients come from the USA.
我的这个想法来自生活。
This idea of mine originated from daily life.
What to remember
- Name the origin after 来自.
- Origins need not be physical places.
- Use 的 when a 来自 phrase modifies a noun.
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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.
Difficulty labels describe the level of the explanation; they are not official HSK placement. Send a correction with this page’s URL.