Level 5 · Lesson 8

进来，出去
Come in, go out

我可以进来吗？你们过来。我们晚上回来。我下午回家去。

来 and 去 after a verb are chosen from where the speaker is standing.

听 · Listen

在老师的办公室
 李明 —  老师，我可以进来吗？ 
Teacher, may I come in?  
 王老师 —  请进来。安娜呢？ 
Come in, please. Where's Anna?  
 李明 —  她在楼下。我请她上来。 
She's downstairs. I'll ask her to come up.  
 安娜 —  老师好！我进来了。 
Hello, teacher! Here I am.  
 王老师 —  你们过来，看这张地图。 
Come over here, both of you, and look at this map.  
 李明 —  老师，我们现在出去，晚上回来，可以吗？ 
Teacher, we'll go out now and come back in the evening — is that all right?  
 王老师 —  可以。我不回来了，我下午就回家去。 
That's fine. I won't be coming back — I'm going home this afternoon.  
 安娜 —  好，那我们明天再过来。 
All right, then we'll come over again tomorrow.  

讲解 · Explanation

请进来。我可以进去吗？

进 is 'enter'. Whether it takes 来 or 去 has nothing to do with the door and everything to do with where the speaker is standing. 来 means the movement comes toward me; 去 means it goes away from me. So the teacher inside the office says 请进来, and the student outside it says 我可以进去吗. Both of them are talking about exactly the same step through the same door.

我们现在出去，晚上回来。我请她上来。

Every direction verb works this way, in pairs: 出来 / 出去, 回来 / 回去, 上来 / 上去, 下来 / 下去. Standing in the office, the students 出去 (away from where they are now) and later 回来 (back toward it); Anna is downstairs, so from up here she 上来. Ask yourself one question every time — where am I? — and the choice makes itself.

我下午就回家去。他进教室来了。

When you name the place, it goes inside the pair, between the verb and 来/去: 回家去, 进教室来, 上楼来. English puts the place last and Chinese puts it in the middle, so 回家去 is 'go back home' and 进教室来 is 'come into the classroom'. If there is no place named, the two halves simply sit together: 回去, 进来.

生词 · Vocabulary

词	Meaning	注 · Note
进	to enter, go in	进来 jìnlái / 进去 jìnqù
出	to go out, come out	出来 chūlái / 出去 chūqù
回来	to come back	toward where the speaker is
回去	to go back	away from the speaker: 回家去
过来	to come over here	the opposite is 过去 guòqù

练习 · Practice

你在房间外边，老师在里边。你说：我可以 ______ 吗？ Now you are the one outside.

我下午 ______。 Which one says 'I'm going home this afternoon'?

老师在楼上，我在楼下。老师说：你 ______！ The teacher is upstairs and calls you.

排一排。 Arrange the words: 'You two come over and look at this map.'

进来、出去、回来、回去、过来 Match each word to its meaning.

用一用 · Use it

请进来！我可以进去吗？我们现在出去，晚上回来。我下午回家去。

Stand in your room and say the pair aloud: 请进来 (you are inside) and 我可以进去吗 (you are outside). Then plan your day in two clauses — 我现在出去，晚上回来 — and finish with where you are heading, place in the middle: 我下午回家去. Every time you say one of these, picture the room and ask where you are. That habit, not a list, is what makes 来 and 去 automatic.