来 / 去 as Full Verbs (Come / Go) | Chinese (Mandarin) Grammar

来 (lái, "come") and 去 (qù, "go") are the two most fundamental motion verbs in Chinese, and they work almost exactly like their English counterparts — with two differences worth nailing down early. First, they are deictic: the choice depends on where the speaker is standing. 来 is motion toward me, 去 is motion away from me. Second, when a destination follows, it comes straight after the verb with no word for "to" — 去学校, not "go to school." Master this pair now: they anchor the whole motion-verb system and the directional complements built on 来/去.

The deictic center: 来 = toward me, 去 = away from me

The speaker's location is the reference point. If something moves toward where you are (or where you imagine yourself), it 来s; if it moves away, it 去s. English works identically — "come here" vs "go there" — so the concept transfers directly. The trap is only remembering to apply it consistently.

Verb	Direction	Example	Meaning
来 (lái)	toward the speaker	你来	you come (here)
去 (qù)	away from the speaker	我去	I go (there)

你来，我有话跟你说。

nǐ lái, wǒ yǒu huà gēn nǐ shuō

Come here — I've got something to tell you. (informal) — motion toward me: 来.

快来！公交车要走了！

kuài lái! gōngjiāochē yào zǒu le

Hurry, come on! The bus is about to leave! (informal)

老师叫你去一下办公室。

lǎoshī jiào nǐ qù yíxià bàngōngshì

The teacher wants you to go to the office. (neutral) — away from here: 去.

Destination goes straight after — no "to"

This is the single most important structural point. In English you need a preposition: "go to school," "come to my place." In Chinese the place is a bare object of 来/去: 去 + place, 来 + place. No 到, no 在, nothing between the verb and the destination.

我去学校，你要一起吗？

wǒ qù xuéxiào, nǐ yào yìqǐ ma

I'm going to school — want to come along? (informal)

周末我们去海边吧。

zhōumò wǒmen qù hǎibiān ba

Let's go to the seaside this weekend. (informal)

他明天来北京。

tā míngtiān lái Běijīng

He's coming to Beijing tomorrow. (neutral) — said by someone in Beijing, so 来.

💡

The place after 来/去 is a direct object, not a prepositional phrase. 去 + 学校 is complete on its own. Don't reach for a "to" word — inserting 在 (去在) or defaulting to 到 (去到) is exactly the English-transfer habit to break.

Choosing by viewpoint — the tricky cases

Because the anchor is the speaker, the same trip can be 来 or 去 depending on who's talking and where they are. The most famous case: when someone calls you to dinner and you shout back "I'm coming!", Chinese — like English — uses 来, not 去, because you are moving toward the person who called. The deictic center shifts to the addressee.

他不来了，临时有事。

tā bù lái le, línshí yǒu shì

He's not coming anymore — something came up. (informal)

你什么时候去中国？

nǐ shénme shíhou qù Zhōngguó

When are you going to China? (neutral) — away from here, so 去.

妈，我这就来！

mā, wǒ zhè jiù lái

Mom, I'm coming right now! (informal) — you move toward the caller, so 来, never 去.

回来 / 回去 — a preview

来 and 去 also latch onto other motion verbs as directional complements, marking whether the action heads toward or away from the speaker. The most common pair is 回来 (huílai, "come back") and 回去 (huíqu, "go back") — 回 "return" plus the deictic tail. Full treatment is on the directional-complement preview; for now, just hear the same toward-me / away-from-me logic at work.

妈妈，我回来了！

māma, wǒ huílai le

Mom, I'm home! (informal) — returning toward the speaker's base: 回来.

你先回去吧，我还有点儿事。

nǐ xiān huíqu ba, wǒ hái yǒu diǎnr shì

You head back first — I've still got something to do. (informal) — away from here: 回去.

Common Mistakes

1. Inserting a "to" word before the place. The destination is a bare object; no 在 or default 到.

❌ 我去在学校。

Wrong — no preposition; the place follows 去 directly.

✅ 我去学校。

wǒ qù xuéxiào

I'm going to school.

2. Saying 去 when you move toward the listener. Answering a call, you go to them — that's 来.

❌ 我去了！（回应叫你吃饭）

Wrong for 'I'm coming!' — you move toward the caller, so 来.

✅ 我来了！

wǒ lái le

I'm coming! (answering someone calling you)

3. Using 去 to invite someone to your own place. If you're the host at home, guests move toward you: 来我家.

❌ 欢迎去我家玩。

Wrong from the host's viewpoint — guests come toward you: 来我家.

✅ 欢迎来我家玩。

huānyíng lái wǒ jiā wán

You're welcome to come over to my place.

4. Using 来 for motion toward a third place. From home, going to his house is away from you: 去他家.

❌ 明天我来他家。

Wrong — spoken from your own location, his house is away from you: 去.

✅ 明天我去他家。

míngtiān wǒ qù tā jiā

I'm going to his place tomorrow.

Key Takeaways

来 = motion toward the speaker; 去 = motion away from the speaker — deictic, exactly like English "come / go."
The destination is a bare object: 去学校, 来我家 — never a "to" word (no 在, no default 到).
The anchor can shift to the addressee: answering a call, you say 我来了, not 我去了.
Same trip, different verb by viewpoint: 来我家 (host at home) vs 去他家 (going elsewhere).
来/去 also ride other verbs as directional tails: 回来 (come back) / 回去 (go back).

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