来
lái
The English word 'coming' is translated into Chinese as 来 (lái).
来 is used to denote the act of arriving or an arrival. The addition of the directional complement 过来 (guò lái) is frequently used to mean 'come over here' or to indicate movement toward the speaker's location.
Meaning: act of arriving, an arrival (noun)
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Cantonese, coming can be expressed as 嚟緊.
How does it change in a sentence?
Adding the particle 了 (le) after 来 (lái) indicates a change of state or the completion of an action, often used to express that something is 'coming' or 'has arrived'.
How do you pronounce it?
lái
Did you know?
- The character 来 originally depicted a wheat plant, meaning 'grain' or 'seed' before it evolved into the verb for 'coming'.
- In Chinese, 来 is often used as a 'placeholder' verb to mean 'I will do it' or 'Let me handle this', regardless of whether any physical movement is involved.
- In Chinese, the direction of 'coming' is strictly relative to the speaker. While English uses 'come' for many situations, in Chinese, you must use 来 if the person is moving toward you and 去 if they are moving away from you.
Examples in context
- 冬天快来了。Winter is coming on.This sentence uses 来 to describe a season approaching.Tatoeba #13941583 by jan_OkulaJu, translation #279602 by CM
- 太阳升起来了。The sun is coming up.This sentence uses 来 to describe the sun rising.Tatoeba #2188401 by sadhen, translation #275070 by CK
- 汤姆不会来了。Tom won't be coming.This sentence uses 来 to indicate someone will not be arriving.Tatoeba #3338906 by sadhen, translation #2272490 by CK
- 我来了，你们在哪儿？I'm here, where are you guys?
- 71 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Wei and Yuting are waiting for a guest at home.
- 伟 Wei雨婷，客人的来时间是几点？Yǔtíng, kèrén de lái shíjiān shì jǐ diǎn?Yuting, what time is the guest's arrival?
- 雨婷 Yuting伟，他们下午三点来。Wěi, tāmen xiàwǔ sān diǎn lái.Wei, they are coming at 3 p.m.
- 伟 Wei他们的来太突然了。Tāmen de lái tài tūrán le.Their coming was too sudden.
- 雨婷 Yuting没关系，我们准备好了。Méiguānxì, wǒmen zhǔnbèi hǎo le.It's okay, we are ready.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
