Learn Hardcore Chinese: tā huì lái wǒmen de chéngshì lǚyóu.

Learned ability (similar to “can / know how to”):
- 他会说中文。= He can speak Chinese.
Possibility / likelihood:
- 今天会下雨。= It will / is likely to rain today.

In this sentence, it’s not about his ability to come, but about the prediction that he is going to come. So read it as “will”, not “can.”

Why do we say 来我们的城市旅游 and not something closer to English word order like “来旅游我们的城市”?

Chinese and English organize motion and purpose differently.

The common Chinese pattern is:

来 / 去 + place + [do something]
come / go + place + verb phrase

So:

他会来 我们的城市 旅游。
Literally: He will come our city travel.
Natural English: He will come to our city to travel / as a tourist.

Here:

来 = come
我们的城市 = our city (destination)
旅游 = travel / go sightseeing (purpose/activity)

旅游 here is not taking 城市 as its object; instead, the place goes with 来.

The pattern 来旅游我们的城市 is not natural because it suggests 旅游 is directly taking 我们的城市 as its object (“travel our city”), which is not how Chinese normally structures this idea. We say:

来北京旅游 = come to Beijing to travel / sightsee
去上海工作 = go to Shanghai to work

Could we say 他要来我们的城市旅游 instead? What’s the difference between 会 and 要 here?

Yes, you can say:

他要来我们的城市旅游。

The nuance:

会: prediction, likelihood
- More like “He will / is going to come (I think; it’s expected).”
要: plan, arrangement, or strong intention
- More like “He is going to / is planning to come” or “He is about to come,” depending on context.

In many everyday contexts, 他会来… and 他要来… can both be translated as “He will come…”, but:

要 tends to feel more like a decision / schedule / plan.
会 is often more neutral, like a prediction.

What is the function of 的 (de) in 我们的城市? Is it always needed for possession?

的 is a possessive marker here, like apostrophe-s (’s) in English.

我们 = we / us
的 = of / ’s
城市 = city

So 我们的城市 = “our city”.

Is 的 always needed? No.

General rule:

Pronoun + 的 + noun is the standard, safe possessive:
- 我的书 = my book
- 你的朋友 = your friend
- 我们的老师 = our teacher

But 的 is often dropped in:

Close personal relationships or kinship:
- 我妈妈 (not usually 我的妈妈) = my mom
- 我哥哥 = my older brother
Some fixed or very close associations.

For 我们的城市, using 的 is very natural and correct. Dropping it might be okay (see next question), but with 的 is the default textbook form.

Can we drop 的 and just say 我们城市?

Yes, 我们城市 is also used, especially in spoken Chinese, and it’s generally acceptable.

Nuance:

我们的城市
- Neutral, fully explicit: “our city.”
我们城市
- Slightly more concise / informal; very common in speech and some writing.

You’ll often see 的 dropped when:

The possessor is a short pronoun (我，你，他，我们, etc.), and
The noun is longer or more “institutional” (学校, 公司, 城市, 国家, etc.).

Examples:

我们学校 = our school
我们公司 = our company
我们城市 = our city

But you cannot drop 的 everywhere; for most ordinary nouns, especially where ambiguity might appear, keeping 的 is safest for learners.

Why isn’t there a word meaning “to” before 我们的城市? In English we say “come to our city.”

In Chinese, motion verbs often take a place directly as their complement, without a preposition:

来北京 = come (to) Beijing
去上海 = go (to) Shanghai
回家 = return (to) home

So:

来我们的城市
literally: come our city
functionally: come to our city.

You can add a preposition-like word 到 (dào) to be explicit:

他会到我们的城市来旅游。
He will come to our city to travel.

Both are correct:

他会来我们的城市旅游。
他会到我们的城市来旅游。

The first is just more compact.

What is the difference between 来 (lái) and 去 (qù) here? Could we say 他会去我们的城市旅游?

Yes, 他会去我们的城市旅游 is grammatically correct, but it changes the viewpoint.

来 (come): movement toward the speaker or some reference point (“here”).
去 (go): movement away from the speaker or reference point (“there”).

If “our city” is where the speaker is (or will be at that time), then:

来我们的城市 is more natural:
“He will come to our city.”

If you’re talking from the point of view of another place, not that city, then 去 might feel more natural:

“He will go to our city (from where we are now).”

In many real-life conversations, people choose 来 or 去 depending on whether they imagine themselves there or not.

Is 旅游 (lǚyóu) a noun or a verb in this sentence? Could we use 旅行 (lǚxíng) instead?

In 他会来我们的城市旅游, 旅游 is used as a verb:

旅游 = to travel, to go sightseeing

So the structure is:

来 + [place] + [verb]
来我们的城市旅游
come to our city to travel / to sightsee

旅游 and 旅行 are close in meaning, but with slight nuances:

旅游: often emphasizes sightseeing / tourism / leisure travel.
旅行: general “travel,” can be for tourism, work, long trips, etc.; often a bit more formal or broader.

You could say:

他会来我们的城市旅行。
This is also correct and natural, with a similar meaning (“He will come to our city to travel”), possibly a little more neutral and less explicitly “touristy.”

Why is there no tense ending like “-ed” or “will” on 来 and 旅游? How is future time shown?

Chinese verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.).
Instead, future, past, and present are shown using:

Time words:
- 昨天 (yesterday), 今天 (today), 明天 (tomorrow), 明年 (next year), etc.
Modal verbs / auxiliaries:
- 会, 要, 想, 能, 可以, etc.
Context.

In 他会来我们的城市旅游:

会 is the main marker indicating a future event.
That’s why 来 and 旅游 stay in their basic form.

If you add a time word:

他明年会来我们的城市旅游。
He will come to our city to travel next year.

If I want to emphasize that he is “definitely” coming, how could I change this sentence?

You can add adverbs of certainty, for example:

他一定会来我们的城市旅游。
He will definitely come to our city to travel.

Other options:

他肯定会来我们的城市旅游。
He will certainly / surely come to our city to travel.
他真的会来我们的城市旅游。
He really will come to our city to travel. (More emotional.)

The most common “definitely” choice is 一定会.

Can I omit the subject 他 if it’s already clear from context?

Yes. Chinese often drops the subject when it is understood from context.

For example, if someone asks:

他什么时候会来我们的城市旅游？
When will he come to our city to travel?

You could answer just:

明年会来我们的城市旅游。
(He) will come to our city to travel next year.

Here the subject 他 is understood from the previous sentence.

As a standalone sentence with no context, though, you should keep 他 so it’s clear who you are talking about.

Would it be grammatical to say 他会来旅游我们的城市?

This sentence is unnatural and should be avoided.

Problems:

The normal pattern is:
- 来 + place
  - 旅游
    Not 来 + 旅游 + place.
旅游 is not normally used like a verb that directly takes a city as its object in this structure. You say:
- 在北京旅游 (travel in Beijing)
- 去北京旅游 (go to Beijing to travel)
- 来北京旅游 (come to Beijing to travel)

So correct and natural versions are:

他会来我们的城市旅游。
他会来我们城市旅游。
他会到我们的城市来旅游。
他会在我们的城市旅游。（slightly different emphasis: he will be travelling in our city）

How would you add a time word like “next year” or “tomorrow” to this sentence? Where does it go?

Time expressions usually go before the verb phrase, often right after the subject.

Common positions:

[Time] + Subject + (modal) + verb…
- 明年他会来我们的城市旅游。
  Next year he will come to our city to travel.
Subject + [time] + (modal) + verb…
- 他明年会来我们的城市旅游。
  He will come to our city to travel next year.

Both are natural. For learners, Subject + time + 会 + verb is a very safe pattern.

Less common but possible with a slightly different focus:

他会明年来我们的城市旅游。
Here 明年 is closer to 来, almost like “He will come next year to our city to travel.”

Do we need a measure word like 个 (gè) before 城市?

Not in this sentence.

Measure words are needed when you:

Count something: 一个城市 (one city), 两个城市 (two cities)
Use demonstratives: 这个城市 (this city), 那个城市 (that city)

But when you’re just talking about the noun in general, without counting or specifying which one with 这/那, you do not need a measure word:

我喜欢这个城市。= I like this city.
他会来我们的城市旅游。= He will come to our city to travel.

Is there any pronunciation tip for 旅游 (lǚyóu)? The lǚ sound is hard.

Yes. The lǚ (lü) sound uses the vowel ü, which doesn’t exist in English.

Tips:

Start by saying “ee” (like in “see”),
While holding that tongue position, round your lips like you’re saying “oo” (as in “too”).
That rounded-but-front vowel is ü.

So:

lǚ = l
- ü
yóu = like “yo” (2nd tone).

Also:

When typing pinyin on a keyboard that doesn’t allow ü, you usually type lü as lv:
- 旅游 = lvyou

So 旅游 is pronounced roughly like lyu-yo (second tone on yo).

Can 他会来我们的城市旅游 also mean “He is able to come travel in our city” (ability), not just future?

In theory, 会 can express ability (“can / know how to”), but:

With a motion verb like 来 and no other context, native speakers will almost always interpret 会 here as future / likelihood, not ability.

If you want to clearly say he is able / allowed / has the possibility to come, you’d usually use 能 (néng) or 可以 (kěyǐ) instead:

他能来我们的城市旅游。
He is able to / has the possibility to come to our city to travel.
他可以来我们的城市旅游。
He may / is allowed to come to our city to travel.

So in ordinary contexts, understand 他会来我们的城市旅游 as:

“He will come to our city to travel,”
not “He can (is able to) come to our city to travel.”