Movement verbs 来 and 去
来 and 去 are the main motion verbs in Chinese. They are used to describe the directions of movements.
The verbs and show movement in relation to the speaker. 去 — movement away from the speaker. 来 — movement towards the speaker. After motion verbs, usually a place is stated without the preposition .
The part of a sentence when there is a place word after the motion verbs is called circumstances of place.
Scheme
who
来/去
place
where?
Examples
商店
She went to the store
tā qù shāngdiàn
商店
She came to the store
tā lái shāngdiàn
There are cases when we don't specify the place itself as the circumstance of place, but instead we indicate the person to whom the movement is directed. For example: “come to my place”, “go to my grandmother's”. In sentences with 来, you have to put the demonstrative pronoun or after the person. And in sentences with 去, you have to put the demonstrative pronoun or after the person.
Scheme
to whom
这儿/这里
Scheme
to whom
那儿/那里
Examples
这儿
Come to my place
lái wǒ zhèr ba
奶奶那里
Go to grandma's place
qù nǎinai nàlǐ
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