来
to come
lái
What does 来 mean?
来 (lái) is the basic Chinese verb 'to come' — movement toward the speaker or toward a topic of focus. It is the natural opposite of 去 (qù, 'to go'). Two things surprise English speakers: first, 来 is sensitive to the speaker's position — you 来 toward where the speaker is, you 去 away from it; second, 来 is used in many idiomatic ways beyond literal movement, such as 来 + verb to mean 'come and do something' (来吃饭 'come eat') or 'let me…' (我来 'I'll do it / let me'). In restaurants, 来一个 + dish means 'I'll have one of…'. 来 also pairs with directional complements: 过来 ('come over'), 回来 ('come back'), 上来 ('come up'). At HSK 1, focus on the basic 'come here / come to a place' usage.
Character breakdown
to come; toward the speaker
Memory hook: 来 originally pictographed a wheat plant — wheat 'came' as a gift from the sky in ancient legend, so the character carried the sense of 'arrive / come.'
Example sentences
你来吗？
Nǐ lái ma?
Are you coming?
spoken
请来我家。
Qǐng lái wǒ jiā.
Please come to my house.
polite
他明天来。
Tā míngtiān lái.
He's coming tomorrow.
neutral
我来了！
Wǒ lái le!
I'm coming! / Here I come!
spoken
Common phrases with 来
Synonyms
到 means 'to arrive / reach.' 来 emphasizes the act of coming; 到 emphasizes arrival at a destination. 他来了 ('he came / he's here'); 他到了 ('he has arrived').
Don't confuse 来 with
去 means 'to go' — movement AWAY from the speaker. 来 = movement toward. From a guest's view, 'come to my house' is 来我家; from the host's view inviting, also 来我家. Direction is relative to the speaker.
莱 is a different character (with a grass radical 艹), used mostly in place names like 莱阳 or surnames. Visually similar to 来 but rare and unrelated in meaning.