Sentence pattern · Band 2

来 and 去 after a verb: toward me or away

动词 + 来/去

来 and 去 after a verb paint the arrow's direction, and the anchor is always the speaker. Toward me the book comes, 带来; away from me the trash goes, 拿去. Standing in your room you call someone in with 进来 and send them out with 出去. English moves its anchor around; Mandarin nails it to whoever is talking.

Hear it in a sentence

快进来，外边很冷。Kuài jìnlái, wàibian hěn lěng.Come in quick. It is cold outside.
我的东西呢？拿出去吧。Wǒ de dōngxi ne? Ná chūqù ba.Where are my things? Take them out.
他回家了，我们回去吧。Tā huí jiā le, wǒmen huíqù ba.He went home. Let us head back too.
我的书呢？你拿来了吗？Wǒ de shū ne? Nǐ ná lái le ma?Where is my book? Did you bring it?

Mistakes people make

Not this我的书你拿去了吗？Wǒ de shū nǐ ná qù le ma?Say this我的书你拿来了吗？Wǒ de shū nǐ ná lái le ma?

来 points toward the speaker: a book coming to me is 拿来 while 拿去 means it left with someone.

Words in this pattern

来lái去qù进来jìnlái出去chūqù

Quick answers

What does 趋向补语：来、去 mean?

来 and 去 after a verb paint the arrow's direction, and the anchor is always the speaker. Toward me the book comes, 带来; away from me the trash goes, 拿去. Standing in your room you call someone in with 进来 and send them out with 出去. English moves its anchor around; Mandarin nails it to whoever is talking.

How do you build it?

动词 + 来/去

What is the most common mistake?

我的书你拿去了吗？ → 我的书你拿来了吗？

来 points toward the speaker: a book coming to me is 拿来 while 拿去 means it left with someone.

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