Verb + 过来 / 过去

HSK 3

Complements

Structure (结构 jiégòu)

Verb过来 / 过去

Meaning (意思 yìsi)

Directional complement 过来/过去 indicates the direction of an action — either moving toward the speaker (over here) or away from the speaker (over there).

Explanation (解释 jiěshì)

This is a very common pair of double directional complements. The usage is quite intuitive:

过来 (guòlái): Describes movement across an obstacle or space to come toward the speaker. Loosely translated as "over here."
过去 (guòqù): Describes movement across an obstacle or space to go away from the speaker. Loosely translated as "over there."

Beyond their literal directional meanings, they also carry figurative senses — for example, 醒过来 (to come to/wake up) or 晕过去 (to pass out/faint).

Examples (例句 lìjù)(5)

你快走过来吧！
繁: 你快走過來吧！Nǐ kuài zǒu guòlái ba!
Come over here quickly!
那辆车开过去了。
繁: 那輛車開過去了。Nà liàng chē kāi guòqù le.
That car drove past.
请把那本书递过来。
繁: 請把那本書遞過來。Qǐng bǎ nà běn shū dì guòlái.
Please hand that book over to me.
他跑过马路去了。
繁: 他跑過馬路去了。Tā pǎo guò mǎlù qù le.
He ran across the street.
他终于醒过来了。
繁: 他終於醒過來了。Tā zhōngyú xǐng guòlái le.
He finally woke up.

Common mistakes

Wrong:我在这里，你走过去吧。
Correct:我在这里，你走过来吧。
The action is directed toward the speaker (I am here), so 过来 (come here) must be used, not 过去 (go there).
Wrong:他跳过去那条河。
Correct:他跳过那条河去了。
When there is an object indicating location (such as 那条河), it must stand between the verb (跳) and the complement (过去).