Directional complement 来/去
HSK 2- Complements
Structure (结构 jiégòu)
Verb来 / 去
Meaning (意思 yìsi)
来 (lái) and 去 (qù) are placed after a verb to indicate the direction of the action relative to the speaker.
Explanation (解释 jiěshì)
来 and 去 are simple directional complements indicating whether an action is moving toward or away from the speaker. It is quite straightforward:
- 来 (lái): the action moves toward you. For example, if you are upstairs and call to someone below, use
上来(come up here). - 去 (qù): the action moves away from you. For example, if you are upstairs and see someone going down, use
下去(go down there).
Always take the speaker's position as the reference point when deciding which word to use.
Examples (例句 lìjù)(5)
- 老师进来了。繁: 老師進來了。Lǎoshī jìn lai le.
The teacher came in.
- 他已经回家去了。繁: 他已經回家去了。Tā yǐjīng huí jiā qù le.
He has already gone home.
- 你快下来吧！繁: 你快下來吧！Nǐ kuài xià lai ba!
Come down here quickly!
- 请把那本书拿来。繁: 請把那本書拿來。Qǐng bǎ nà běn shū ná lai.
Please bring that book here.
- 他跑出去了。Tā pǎo chū qù le.
He ran outside.
Common mistakes
- Wrong:我在楼下，你快上来！Correct:我在楼下，你快下来！
The speaker is downstairs, so the action of "going down" must be directed toward oneself. Use `下来` (come down) instead.
- Wrong:你什么时候去我家玩？Correct:你什么时候来我家玩？
The speaker is at their own home, so the action of "coming home" is directed toward the speaker and must use 来.