Serial verbs (after verbs of motion and )

The verbs lái to come and to go are used to describe motion coming towards or moving way from a speaker. More explanations and examples will be given in the “directional complement” section, but we would like to demonstrate here how lái and are followed by the noun or the main verbal clause of a sentence. For example:

lái wǒ jiā hē chá

He is coming to my house for tea. (lit. he is coming to my home to drink tea)

The motion in the above sentence moves towards the speaker. lái to come is followed by wǒ jiā my home .

lái hē chá

He is coming for tea. (lit. he is coming to drink tea)

The motion in the above sentence moves towards the speaker. lái to come is followed by the verbal clause hē chá drink tea.

qù shū diàn mǎi shū

I’m going to the bookshop to buy books.

The motion in the above sentence moves away from the speaker. to go is followed by the noun shū diàn bookshop .

qù mǎi shū

I’m going out to buy books. (lit. I’m going to buy books)

The motion in the above sentence moves away from the speaker. to go is followed by the verbal clause 买书 mǎi shū buy books .

Apart from indicating motion direction, lái has the following functions.

1. It can mean that let sb. do sth …

lái gěi nǐ zuò lái jiāo nǐ hàn yǔ

Let me do it for you. Let me teach you Chinese.

2. lái is used for ordering food and drinks in restaurants. The expression implies the ‘Bring me’ …that you might say to a waiter:

一瓶 啤酒 咖啡

lái yì ping pí jiǔ lái yì bēi kāfēi

I’d like a bottle of beer. I’d like a cup of coffee.