“来 lái ” 是 come， “去 qù ” 是 go

There is a famous children’s rhyme or songs in China which is played in kindergarten or primary school to help Chinese kids to learn some easy English words. And it goes like ‘来lái is come, 去 qù is go, 我 is I，你 is you’. Also some Chinese learners found it easy to follow and helpful to remember the Chinese words. But do you know that 来 (lái) is so much more than ‘come’, and 去qù doesn’t just mean ‘to go’? Let’s have a look!

How to use 来lái properly?

1. First of all, the most common meaning is ‘to come’, just as it’s sung in the children’s rhyme.

A: Mǎlì lái gōngsī le ma ？
　玛丽来公司了吗？
　Did Mary come to the office?
B: Tā yǐjīng lái le.
　她已经来了。
　Yes, she already came.

2. Also 来lái can be placed before or after another verb.

-when it is before another verb；

Wǒ lái kàn nǐ. 我来看你。I (will come to) visit you.
Wǒ lái bāng nǐ. 我来帮你。I (will come to) help you.

In these cases, actually we don’t need to translate the word 来 as ‘come’, and it indicates that the action will happen very soon.

-when it is after another verb:
huí lái回来（come back）
jìn lái 进来(come in)
guò lái 过来(come over)

3. Another situation we use 来lái is in the restaurant, and you can translate it as ‘please bring me...’, which is more colloquial and sounds more like local people.

A: Nǐhǎo fúwùyuán, lái yī píng píjiǔ!
　你好服务员，来一瓶啤酒！
　(Hello waitor, please bring me a bottle of beer!)
B: Méi wèntí!
　没问题！
　(No problem!)

How to use 去qù properly?

1.The basic meaning of 去 is indeed ‘to go’:

‘Wǒ jīntiān qù Shànghǎi, míngtiān qù Shēnzhèn. ’
‘我今天去上海，明天去深圳。’
(I go to Shanghai today, go to Shenzhen tomorrow)’.
But Chinese people like to put 去qù in front of other verb(s), meaning ‘go to do something’.

Tā qù chīfàn.
他去吃饭。
He goes to have meals.

Wǒ qù mǎi dōngxi.
我去买东西。
I go to buy something.

2.Be careful, in the following two situations, which we use very often, we need to put 去 qù before the verb.:

-chūchāi 出差 (go for business trip)
(√): Wǒ qù Běijīng chūchāi 。
　　我去北京出差。
　　(I go to Beijing for a business trip.) 
(×): Wǒ chūchāi Běijīng。 我出差北京。

-lǚyóu旅游/ lǚxíng旅行 (go for travel)
(√): Wǒ qù Hǎinán lǚyóu /lǚxíng。 
　　我去海南旅游/旅行。
　　(I go to Hainan for travel.) 
(×): Wǒ lǚyóu /lǚxíng Hǎinán。我旅游/旅行海南。

Now, do you understand better 来 lái and 去 qù ? Chinese grammar is totally interesting, if you would like to continue to learn with us, click here to book a free trial class.