Directional complements with 来 and 去
来 and 去 attach to a verb of movement to show which way it goes: 来 towards the speaker, 去 away. A place word slots in before them.
Structure
动词 + （处所宾语）+ 来／去
Explanation
Chinese words in this text can be activated to show a dictionary gloss.
and can be attached to a verb of movement to show which way it goes relative to the speaker. means the movement comes towards where the speaker is; means it goes away. Standing inside a room you say “Come in”; standing outside, you say “Go on in.” The same pair works with , , , and : / , / , / . The point that must be drilled is where a place word goes: it sits between the verb and ／, never after them. “He came home”, “He went upstairs” — is the classic error. attaches to the whole unit: “I’ve brought some fruit”; with an object, both and are heard. Later these combine into two-syllable complements — , , — built on exactly the same logic, so the effort spent on and now pays off twice.
Correct
Say each one out loud before moving on. The audio is a reference pronunciation, not a model to imitate exactly — match the tone contour, not the voice.
请进来吧，外面很冷。請進來吧，外面很冷。
Qǐng (third tone, dipping) jìnlai (fourth tone, falling) ba, (neutral tone) wàimiàn (fourth tone, falling) hěn (third tone, dipping) lěng. (third tone, dipping)···
Come in — it’s cold outside.
他上楼去了。他上樓去了。
Tā (first tone, high and level) shàng (fourth tone, falling) lóu (second tone, rising) qù (fourth tone, falling) le. (neutral tone)···
He’s gone upstairs.
我给你带来了一些水果。我給你帶來了一些水果。
Wǒ (third tone, dipping) gěi (third tone, dipping) nǐ (third tone, dipping) dàilaile (fourth tone, falling) yìxiē (fourth tone, falling) shuǐguǒ. (third tone, dipping)···
I’ve brought you some fruit.
Incorrect — Common mistakes
These sentences are wrong. They are printed here on purpose, each one paired with the repair and the reason, because the error you can recognise is the error you stop making.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 他回来家了。
Correct
Correct sentence: 他回家来了。
Why: A place word goes between the verb and 来／去, not after them. The same applies to 上楼去, 进屋来.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: （在门口欢迎客人）请进去。
Correct
Correct sentence: （在门口欢迎客人）请进来。
Why: If you are standing inside and inviting someone in, the movement comes towards you, so it is 来. 进去 would mean you are outside sending them in without you.
Not quite
Incorrect sentence: 我带了来一些水果。
Correct
Correct sentence: 我带来了一些水果。
Why: 了 follows the whole verb + 来 unit. Splitting them is the same mistake as writing 看了完 instead of 看完了.
Compared with
Most errors with this pattern are not errors about this pattern — they are a neighbouring pattern arriving at the wrong moment. Read these side by side.
Both patterns hang an extra element on the verb and both are negated with 没, so they blur together. The difference is what the extra element reports. A resultative complement says whether the action succeeded: 看完, 找到, 听懂. A directional complement says which way it went: 进来, 回去, 上来. There is also one practical difference in word order — a place word can stand inside a directional complement (回家来, 上楼去) but never inside a resultative one.
Resultative complements: 完, 到, 见, 好 →Mini quiz
Question 1 / 3Total score: 0
You are inside the house and your friend is at the door. What do you say?
外面很冷，快 ___ 吧！