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Level Everyday Chinese · HSK 2

Direction Complements: 来, 去, 拿出来, 走进去 and 送给

English uses particles to show direction: come in, go out, bring back. Chinese adds direction words after the verb, and always says whether the movement is toward the speaker (来) or away from them (去).

This viewpoint is built in. If you're upstairs calling someone up, it's 上来; if you're downstairs sending them up, it's 上去.

Verb + 来 / 去

来 means toward the speaker, 去 means away. They're said with a neutral tone after the verb: 回来 (come back), 进去 (go in), 上来 (come up).

+ 来 (toward me)+ 去 (away from me)
上 up上来上去
下 down下来下去
进 in进来进去
出 out出来出去
回 back回来回去
过 over过来过去

  • 请进来。

    Qǐng jìnlai.

    Please come in.

  • 他回去了。

    Tā huíqu le.

    He's gone back.

  • 你下来吧！

    Nǐ xiàlai ba!

    Come on down!

Compound directions: 拿出来, 走进去

Put an action verb before the direction pair: 拿出来 (take out), 走进去 (walk in), 跑过来 (run over here), 带回来 (bring back).

A place goes before 来 / 去: 走进教室去, 回家来. An ordinary object can go before 来 / 去 or after the whole complement: 拿出一本书来 or 拿出来一本书.

  • 他从包里拿出来一本书。

    Tā cóng bāo li ná chūlai yì běn shū.

    He took a book out of his bag.

  • 孩子们跑过来了。

    Háizimen pǎo guòlai le.

    The children came running over.

  • 他走进教室去了。

    Tā zǒu jìn jiàoshì qu le.

    He walked into the classroom.

  • 我给你带回来一个礼物。

    Wǒ gěi nǐ dài huílai yí ge lǐwù.

    I brought you back a present.

Verb + 给 + person

Verbs of handing over put 给 + the receiver right after them: 送给 (give as a gift), 交给 (hand in to), 借给 (lend to), 卖给 (sell to). To borrow from someone, use 跟…借: 我跟他借了一本书.

  • 我把作业交给老师了。

    Wǒ bǎ zuòyè jiāo gěi lǎoshī le.

    I handed my homework in to the teacher.

  • 这本书是他送给我的。

    Zhè běn shū shì tā sòng gěi wǒ de.

    He gave me this book.

  • 我跟朋友借了一百块。

    Wǒ gēn péngyou jiè le yìbǎi kuài.

    I borrowed a hundred yuan from a friend.

Common mistakes

  • ✗他回家去了来。

    ✓他回家来了。

    Tā huí jiā lai le.

    Choose one viewpoint: 来 (toward me) or 去 (away from me), never both.

  • ✗他走进去教室。

    ✓他走进教室去。

    Tā zǒu jìn jiàoshì qu.

    A place always goes before 来 or 去.

  • ✗我借给他一本书。 (meaning you borrowed it from him)

    ✓我跟他借了一本书。

    Wǒ gēn tā jiè le yì běn shū.

    借给 means lend to. Borrowing from someone is 跟 + person + 借.

Questions learners ask

How do I know whether to use 来 or 去?

Picture where the speaker is. Movement toward the speaker (or the place being talked about as "here") is 来; movement away is 去. On the phone, 你过来吧 means "come over to where I am".

Do direction complements have other meanings?

Yes, many. 想起来 (remember), 看出来 (make out), 说下去 (keep talking) are figurative. They're covered in the B1 guide on figurative complements.

Practice this in lessons

The Foundations lessons teach this step by step, with exercises and review built in.

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