去 (qù) is the everyday verb for going somewhere — but with one twist English never prepares you for: the destination attaches directly, with no "to." 去北京 is "go to Beijing," 去学校 is "go to school," 去哪儿 is "where are you going." There is no coverb, no preposition — the place noun just follows 去. The other thing to internalize early is that 去 encodes direction relative to the speaker: it means "go away from where I am." Its mirror image is 来 (lái) "come toward where I am." The same event can be 去 or 来 depending only on where the speaker is standing — a distinction that quietly runs through the whole language.
Sense 1: go (to a destination)
The core use: 去 + place, the place following directly. This is the answer to 去哪儿 ("where to?").
你去哪儿？
nǐ qù nǎr
Where are you going?
明天我去北京出差。
míngtiān wǒ qù Běijīng chūchāi
Tomorrow I'm going to Beijing on a business trip. — 去 + place, no 'to'.
我先去趟超市，你要买什么吗？
wǒ xiān qù tàng chāoshì, nǐ yào mǎi shénme ma
I'm popping to the supermarket first — do you want anything? — 去(一)趟 'make a quick trip'.
Sense 2: go (and) do something — purpose
Put a verb phrase after 去 and it frames the purpose of going: "go to do X." This is a serial-verb construction — 去 first, the activity second, in the order the actions happen (you go, then you do the thing).
我们去吃饭吧！
wǒmen qù chī fàn ba
Let's go eat! — 去 + activity.
妈妈让我去楼下买点儿酱油。
māma ràng wǒ qù lóuxià mǎi diǎnr jiàngyóu
Mom sent me downstairs to buy some soy sauce. — 去买 'go and buy'.
周末你想不想去看电影？
zhōumò nǐ xiǎng bu xiǎng qù kàn diànyǐng
Do you want to go see a movie this weekend?
Sense 3: directional complement — 回去, 拿去, 上去
After another motion verb, 去 becomes a directional complement meaning the motion heads away from the speaker: 回去 "go back," 进去 "go in," 上去 "go up," 出去 "go out," 拿去 "take away," 带去 "take along." Swap in 来 and the motion comes toward the speaker instead: 回来 "come back," 拿来 "bring here." In everyday speech this complement 去 is usually unstressed and often reduces to a neutral tone (huíqu), though it's cited here with its full tone.
外面太冷了，我们回去吧。
wàimiàn tài lěng le, wǒmen huíqù ba
It's freezing out — let's head back. — 回去 'go back (away from here)'.
你上去看看他在不在。
nǐ shàngqù kànkan tā zài bu zài
Go up and see whether he's there. — 上去 'go up'.
这些旧衣服你拿去吧，我不要了。
zhèxiē jiù yīfu nǐ náqù ba, wǒ bú yào le
Take these old clothes away — I don't want them anymore. — 拿去 'take away from here'.
When there's an object, it usually slips between the verb and 去/来: 拿一本书去 "take a book over." Full details on the object-placement page.
Sense 4: 去 vs 走 — destination vs departure
Both can translate as "go," but they focus on different things. 去 needs (or implies) a destination — where you're headed. 走 (zǒu) focuses on leaving — motion away from here, no destination required. So "I've got to go" (i.e. leave) is 我得走了, never *我得去了.
时间不早了，我得走了。
shíjiān bù zǎo le, wǒ děi zǒu le
It's getting late — I've got to go. — 走 = leave, not 去.
你去哪儿？——我去健身房。
nǐ qù nǎr? wǒ qù jiànshēnfáng
Where are you off to? — To the gym. — 去 = go toward a destination.
Fixed forms: 去年, 过去
去 has fossilized into some common words where it no longer means "go" on its own. 去年 (qùnián) is "last year" (literally "the gone year"), and 过去 (guòqù) means "the past" or "go over / pass by." Learn these as vocabulary, not as live uses of "go."
去年夏天我去了一趟西藏。
qùnián xiàtiān wǒ qùle yí tàng Xīzàng
Last summer I took a trip to Tibet. — 去年 'last year' + 去 'go'.
过去的事就别再提了。
guòqù de shì jiù bié zài tí le
Let's not bring up things that are in the past. — 过去 'the past'.
Key collocations
| Phrase | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 去上班 | qù shàngbān | go to work |
| 去上学 | qù shàngxué | go to school |
| 去买东西 | qù mǎi dōngxi | go shopping |
| 回去 | huíqù | go back |
| 出去 | chūqù | go out |
| 过去 | guòqù | go over; the past |
| 去年 | qùnián | last year |
| 去世 | qùshì | pass away (formal) |
Grammar notes
去 takes aspect markers freely: 去了 (qùle) "went / have gone," 去过 (qùguò) "have been to (at some point)." Note the difference — 我去过北京 means "I've been to Beijing (an experience)," while 我去了北京 means "I went to Beijing (a completed event)." As a full motion verb, 去 belongs to the small family covered on the motion verbs page. For the direction-relative-to-speaker logic that 去 and 来 share, and how it extends to 上/下/进/出, see the directional complements overview.
Common Mistakes
1. Inserting 到 before the destination. In standard Mandarin the place attaches straight to 去; *去到北京 is redundant (though 去到 is heard in southern/Cantonese-influenced speech (regional)).
❌ 我明天去到北京。
Nonstandard in Putonghua — drop 到: the place follows 去 directly.
✅ 我明天去北京。
wǒ míngtiān qù Běijīng
I'm going to Beijing tomorrow.
2. Using 去 when the motion is toward you. If the destination is where you are, the verb is 来, not 去.
❌ 你晚上去我家吧。
Wrong if you're speaking from home — motion toward the speaker takes 来.
✅ 你晚上来我家吧。
nǐ wǎnshang lái wǒ jiā ba
Come over to my place tonight.
3. Using 去 to mean 'leave.' "I'm leaving / off now" is 走, not 去.
❌ 我要去了，再见！
Incorrect for 'I'm leaving' — that's 走了, not 去了.
✅ 我要走了，再见！
wǒ yào zǒu le, zàijiàn
I'm off now — bye!
4. Putting the means of transport after 去. The "how" (坐车 / 坐飞机) is a coverb phrase that comes before 去 + destination.
❌ 我去北京坐高铁。
This reads 'go to Beijing (in order) to ride the train' — not what you mean.
✅ 我坐高铁去北京。
wǒ zuò gāotiě qù Běijīng
I'm going to Beijing by high-speed rail. — means first, then 去 + place.
Key Takeaways
- 去 = "go away from the speaker"; 来 = "come toward the speaker." The same trip can be either, depending on where you stand.
- The destination attaches directly: 去北京, 去学校 — never *去到北京 in standard Mandarin.
- 去 + verb phrase frames purpose: 去买东西, 去上课 ("go and…").
- As a directional complement, 去 points motion away: 回去, 出去, 拿去 (vs 回来, 出来, 拿来).
- For "leave," use 走 (我得走了), not 去. And 去年 / 过去 are fixed words, not live "go."
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- 来 (lái) — to comeHSK 1 — 来 (lái) is 'come (toward the speaker)' — a full verb (他来了), a directional marker (进来, 拿来, 回来), a serial 'come / let me' (我来帮你), the diner's 'I'll have' (来一个), and 'bring about' (带来). It always points motion toward the here-and-now; 去 points away.
- 走 (zǒu) — walk / leave / goHSK 1 — 走 (zǒu) is both 'walk / go on foot' (走路, 往前走) and, just as commonly, 'leave / set off' (我走了, 该走了) — it's an intransitive verb, so a destination still takes 去, not 走.
- 到 (dào) — arrive / reach / toHSK 2 — 到 (dào) is 'arrive/reach' as a full verb (火车到了), 'to (a place)' as a coverb before another verb (到北京去), and a resultative complement of success or endpoint after a verb (找到 'find', 走到门口 'walk up to the door').