Come vs Go – Grammar Shorts

Come vs Go

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Come and Go are both verbs expressing movement from one destination to another.

Come

We use come to indicate movement towards the speaker or the listener.

Towards the speaker:

• Come here. I need to speak with you.
• Fred is coming for dinner tonight.
• That car is coming towards us!

Towards the listener:

• I’d like to come and see you someday.
• We’d like to come to your party

We also use come when someone joins the movement of the speaker or listener to a different destination.

• We have room in our car, so Nick is coming with us.
• Can I come with you when you visit Mary next weekend?

Go

We use go to indicate movement away from the speaker or the listener.

• Joe’s not here. He went to work.
• I’m going to Spain to visit a friend next week.
• When I finish work, I always go straight home.

Use either come or go

When we talk about a person who isn’t the speaker or the listener, we can use either come or go, depending on perspective. We use go if we are describing the movement from the perspective of the person who is travelling (towards there), and we use come if we are describing the movement from the perspective of the person/place that will be receiving the visit (treated as here).

• David came to his parent’s house to tell them the news. (We are speaking from David’s point of view.)
• David went to his parent’s house to tell them the news. (We are speaking from his parents’ point of view.)

Please wait...

Page 1 of 10

1 I'm going to a party. Do you want to _____ with me?

A. go

B. come

Page 2 of 10

2 Mary is _____; she'll be here in a minute.

A. coming

B. going

Page 3 of 10

3 I was alone in the office because all my colleagues had _____ home.

A. come

B. gone

Page 4 of 10

4 Can I _____ with you to Nevada.

A. go

B. come

Page 5 of 10

5 Where are you _____ for your holiday next summer?

A. going

B. coming

Page 6 of 10

6 Please _____ in. It's cold out there.

A. come

B. go

Page 7 of 10

7 Can I _____ to your office? I need to talk to you.

A. come

B. go

Page 8 of 10

8 You need to _____ home and rest. I'll stay here and finish the job.

A. come

B. go

Page 9 of 10

9 We'll _____ to visit you this summer.

A. come

B. go

Page 10 of 10

10 Jake _____ to see his friend at the hospital.

A. came

B. went

C. Both options are correct.

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Explanation

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