The verbs 去
and 来
show movement in relation to the speaker.
去 — movement away from the speaker.
来 — movement towards the speaker.
After motion verbs, usually a place is stated without the preposition 在
. The part of a sentence when there is a place word after the motion verbs is called circumstances of place.
ExamplesShe went to the store
tā qù shāngdiàn
She came to the store
tā lái shāngdiàn
There are cases when we don't specify the place itself as the circumstance of place, but instead we indicate the person to whom the movement is directed. For example: “come to my place”, “go to my grandmother's”.
In sentences with 来, you have to put the demonstrative pronoun 这儿
or 这里
after the person. And in sentences with 去, you have to put the demonstrative pronoun 那儿
or 那里
after the person. ExamplesCome to my place
lái wǒ zhèr ba
Go to grandma's place
qù nǎinai nàlǐ