lái 来 vs qù 去 – to come vs to go

Question 1

Which statement correctly describes when to use 来 lái versus 去 qù?

Use 来 for formal situations and 去 for informal situations.

Use 来 when the movement is toward the speaker; use 去 when the movement is away from the speaker.

Use 来 for past actions and 去 for future actions.

Use 来 only with people and 去 only with objects.

Question 2

Which situation is appropriate for using 来 lái?

You talk about someone traveling to a place far from both you and the listener.

A guest moves toward you and you say 欢迎你来 (huānyíng nǐ lái).

You describe leaving your house for a trip.

You mention a past event yesterday.

Question 3

Which sentence correctly uses 去 qù to show movement?

他从那里来 (tā cóng nàlǐ lái).

我现在去商店 (wǒ xiànzài qù shāngdiàn) — 'I'm going to the store now.'

你来我家了 (nǐ lái wǒ jiā le).

我们回来吧 (wǒmen huílái ba).

Question 4

If the conversation's reference point shifts to the listener instead of the speaker, how should you choose 来 or 去?

Ignore the shift and stick to the original speaker's location.

Use 来 if movement is toward the listener's location (now the 'here').

Always use 来 for all directions after the shift.

Use 去 in all future sentences regardless of direction.

Question 5

Which request uses 来 correctly to invite someone over?

你去我这儿 (nǐ qù wǒ zhè er).

你过来一下 (nǐ guòlái yí xià) — 'Come over here for a moment.'

你走去一下 (nǐ zǒu qù yí xià).

你回来一下 (nǐ huílái yí xià).

Question 6

Which compound verb pair correctly matches direction relative to the speaker?

出来 (chū lái) is used for arrival at a distant place.

进来 (jìn lái) for entering toward the speaker; 出去 (chū qù) for exiting away.

进去 (jìn qù) means exit away from the speaker.

回去 (huí qù) means 'to go out.'

Key Difference