Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

I am confused about the usage of 'come' and 'go'. Please read the following dialogues:
A: Will you come to my place?
B: I have decided to come. I'll be there.
Is it correct to use 'come' in B? Shouldn't it be 'go'? because it's B to go to A's place? If 'come' is ok here, can you please tell me the difference between 'come' and 'go'?

Another related question: when someone is calling, the reply is I'm coming. My question again is 'I' goes to someone, then why 'coming' is used?
Thank you very much for your help.

Leslie

[lotus]

Hi leslie,

I)

QUOTE:
A: Will you come to my place?
B: I have decided to come. I'll be there.

You could use either come or go:

I have decided to come (to your place).
I have decided to go (to your place).

The first sentence is more natural because:
1. You have repeated your friend's request to come.
2. You would've placed yourself in his perspective by "coming" to his place.
3. If you had said "to go", you might mean to "go" somewhere else.

The more natural alternates to A and B are:

I've decided to come (to your place).
I've decided I'll go (to your place).


II)

Hey John, do you want to go (together) to the movies with me?

Yea, I'll go (to the movies with you).
Yea, I'll come (to where you are and go to the movies with you).

A subtle, but noticeable difference in meaning and tone.

"Go" is a little more determined than "come." You "have" to go, but you "may" not come.


--lotus

[leslie]

Thank you for your help, lotus.

[lotus]

No, it doesn't sound natural.

You don't "come together" to the movies, you "go together" to the movies.

Hey John, do you want to go to the movies with me?


--lotus

[Teo]

http://www.englishforums.com/English/ComeGo/chwnc/Post.htm
_________________
Thank you very much for your reply.

[KazAV]

As a native speaker, I would say, "come to the movies with me" and "we will go to the movies together".

[alan.es]

'Come/go' can indeed be very confusing.

Maybe this will also help - come can also have the sense or idea of accompany (come or go with someone). So, if the speaker or listener is asking the other to accompany them or to be with them in another place, 'come' will sound more natural than 'go'.

As a native speaker I hadn't really ever thought about the implication of saying 'I'm coming' whenever anyone called me and you're right. It seems to be wrong grammatically but it is exactly what is said and should be said.

The movement of both speaker and listener is towards each other and that is why 'come' is used.

'I'm going' would clearly imply that the movement was away from each other - to separate them more - not for them to meet as expected.

'Go' quite definitely implies a movement away from the place at the moment of speaking of either speaker or listener.

Hope that helps a little more. Students are often very confused over the use of come and go. It seems to be a simple idea but it's not.

[KazAV]

Very well explained Alan. It is a very confusing theme and seems somewhat contradictory but you've done well here

[leslie]

Thank you guys for your answers. They're helpful. Alan, you explained very well that I think I can understand the usage better than before.

Leslie

[alan.es]

Pleased to have been of help.