Comparison between English Verbs “Come” and “Go” and Chinese
Verbs “lai” and “qu” on the Location of the Speaker and Hearer
Abstract: English verbs “come” and “go” and Chinese verbs “lai” and “qu” are
always regarded as equivalents. This essay tries to find out their similar and different
points in their denotation of location through comparison.
Key words: come; go; lai (来); qu(去); location of the speaker and the hearer
1. The comparison of location denotation of come and lai
1.1 The speaker is standing at the destination of the moving when
speaking.
A. the hearer is standing at the starting point and will move to the destination.
e.g.:
(1)Please come here.
请到我这儿来。
(2) Please come in.
请进来。
B. The hearer is also standing at the destination of the moving, and the speaker moved to the
destination before the talk.
e.g.:
(3) I come here to let you know the latest news.
我来给大家报告最新消息。
C. The hearer is also standing at the destination of the moving; the person being talked about
moved or will move to the destination.
e.g.:
(4) He came here two hours before I arrived.
他比我早两个小时来到这儿。
D. The speaker is not at the destination, and the person being talked about moved or will
move to the destination.
e.g.:
(5) She came to my house around 8: 00.
她是大约八点来我家的。
1.2 The speaker is not at the destination of the moving when speaking.
A. the speaker and the hearer are at the same place or at different place, and then they will move to
the same destination.
e.g.:
(6) Come to my office later.
一会到我办公室来。
(The talk may be face to face, or may be on the phone.)
B. The speaker or the person being talked about moved or will move to the hearer.
e.g.:
(7) I' m coming.
我就来。
(8) He’ll come there right away.
他将立刻来你那儿。
C. The person being talked about moved or will move to the place the speaker or the hearer is not
at or the place both of them not at.
e.g.:
(9) He’ll come to the office tomorrow to pick you up.
他明人来办公室接你。
(10) He came over to my place last night .but I was not at home.
他昨晚来我家了.但是我不在家。
(11) He will come there at dawn.
他会在黎明时来那儿。
2. The location denotation of the speaker and hearer by go and qu
2.1 The speaker is at the starting point of the moving when speaking.
A. The hearer is at the destination of the moving, and the speaker or the person being
talked about will move to the hearer.
e.g.:
(12) I’ll go there right away.
我立刻去你那儿。
(13) He’ll go there right away.
他将立刻去你那儿。
B. The hearer is not at the destination and the speaker or the person being talked about
will move to the destination.
e.g.:
(14)I go to the library and borrow a book this after noon.
今天下午我去图书馆借了一本书。
(15) I saw him go over here.
我看见他去那边了。
C. Both of the speaker and the hearer are at the starting point of the moving, and they
move to the destination together.
e.g.:
(16) Let’s go there at 8: 00.
让我们八点去那儿。
2.2 The speaker is not at the destination of the moving when speaking.
A. The hearer is not at the destination of moving, whether the hearer is at the same
place with the speaker or not, the speaker moved or will move to the place the heater
is not at.
e.g.:
(17) I went to Rome last summer.
去年夏天我去了罗马。
(18) I will go to the ticket office instead of you.
我替你去买一趟票吧。
B. The hearer is at the destination, the speaker at the starting point ,and the speaker or the person
being talked about moved or will move to the hearer.
e.g.:
(19) I went over to your house several times but nobody was ever home. (On the
phone)
我去了你家好几次，但没人在家。
(20) He will go to America and take the stamps for you.
他下周去美国，到时将把邮票给你捎过去。
C. The speaker is neither at the destination nor at the starting point of the moving when speaking,
and the hearer is at the destination; the person being talked about moved or will move to the
hearer.
e.g.:
(21) I tell him to go to your party tonight.
我让他今晚去你的晚会。
(22) I heard he went to the hospital to cheer you up.
我听说他去医院看望过你了。
D. The speaker is neither at the destination nor at the starting point of the moving when speaking,
and the person being talked about moved or will move from the hearer to other places.
e.g.:
(23) John went to the bank after leaving your office.
从你办公室出来后，他去了银行。
(24) A boy pushed on your doorbell and go to the next-door.
一个男孩按了一下你的门铃，又去了另一家。
3 The different use of come/lai and go/qu
3.1 It is common to use “come” in English while qu is appropriate in
Chinese.
The speaker and the hearer are standing at the destination of the moving when
talking, but the speaker refers to the starting point and speaks as if he is at the starting
point.
e.g.:
(25) (Now in China)When I was in America last summer I knew I was going to
China soon, so I wanted to spend as mush time as possible with my family.
去年暑假在美国时感到我就要来中国了，我尽量跟我的家人多呆在一起。
The speaker is in China now, but he/she adds the time and place the moving happened: when
I was in America, which is the starting point of the moving. From the starting point to the
destination we should use “go”. But in Chinese, in any cases, we consider the moving is toward
the destination and “lai” should be used. On the other hand, if the speaker is standing anywhere
except in China, the following sentences are both right in English and Chinese.
(26) When I was in America last summer I knew I was going to China soon, so I
wanted to spend as mush time as possible with my family.
去年暑假我在美国时感到我就要去中国了，我尽量跟我的家人多呆在一起。
3.2 It is common to use come or go in English but it is not common
to use lai or qu in Chinese.
e.g.:
(27) Can I come home with you?
我可以陪你一起回家吗?
(28) Can you come home with me?
你可以陪我一起回家吗?
In the above two sentences, both “come” can be replaced by “go”. But in
Chinese we can see there is no such directive verb as lai and qu.