来

Often used with direction complements like '过来' (guòlái, to come over) or '起来' (qǐlái, to stand up and come).

Used to indicate the arrival of a time, event, or situation.

Often used in the pattern 'S + 来 + O' to indicate cause or result.

Commonly used with verbs to show the beginning of an action.

Often used with '得' (de) or '不及' (bùjí) to indicate possibility or impossibility.

Direction matters

In Chinese, '来' (to come) implies movement toward the speaker or a specified location, while '去' (to go) implies movement away. This is the opposite of English in some contexts, so pay attention to the direction implied by the sentence.

Use '来' for movement toward the speaker

If the subject is moving toward where the speaker is, use '来'. For example, '他来我家' (He is coming to my house) is correct, but '他来你家' (He is coming to your house) is incorrect unless the speaker is at your house.