Serial-verb construction and 来/去
A1 连动句与趋向动词「来、去」 17 / 56
In short
When one subject does several things in a row, Mandarin just lines the verb phrases up in the order they happen - no “and”, no “to”. The everyday case is going somewhere to do something: 我去商店买东西。 (Wǒ qù shāngdiàn mǎi dōngxi.) - I’m going to the store to buy things. The motion verbs are 去 (qù, go - away from the speaker) and 来 (lái, come - toward the speaker).
The rule
A serial-verb sentence (连动句, liándòngjù) has one subject and two or more verb phrases in a fixed order. English glues them with “and” or “to”; Mandarin uses nothing at all. The skeleton is:
Subject + VP1 + VP2 (+ VP3 …)
Step 1 - order the verbs by the real-world timeline. The verbs appear in the sequence the actions actually happen. The first VP is usually the means, the method, or the going; the second is the purpose or goal. In 我去商店买东西, you first go to the store (去商店) and then buy things (买东西) - that is the order on the page.
Step 2 - join nothing. Do not put 和 (hé, “and”) between the verbs. 和 links nouns only (see Personal pronouns and joining nouns with 和); a serial verb takes no connector. Just set VP2 straight after VP1.
Step 3 - for coming and going, use 来/去 as the motion verb. These are the core directional verbs (趋向动词). They are deictic - you choose by where the speaker is standing:
- 去 (qù) - motion away from the speaker: 我去学校。 (Wǒ qù xuéxiào.) - I go to school.
- 来 (lái) - motion toward the speaker: 你来我家。 (Nǐ lái wǒ jiā.) - You come to my place.
They take the destination directly, with no preposition - 去 already contains the English “to”. Then you add the purpose VP:
Subject + 去/来 + (Place) + VP
- 我去邮局寄信。 (Wǒ qù yóujú jì xìn.) - I go to the post office to mail a letter.
- 他来找你。 (Tā lái zhǎo nǐ.) - He’s coming to look for you.
You can drop the place when it’s understood: 我去买东西。 (Wǒ qù mǎi dōngxi.) - I’m going to buy things.
Two more common serial frames. A vehicle verb (坐 zuò, ride/sit; 骑 qí, ride astride; 开 kāi, drive) plus 去/来 says how you travel - the means comes first: 我坐地铁去公司。 (Wǒ zuò dìtiě qù gōngsī.) - I take the subway to the office. And 用 (yòng, use) plus a tool says with what: 我用筷子吃饭。 (Wǒ yòng kuàizi chī fàn.) - I eat with chopsticks.
Negation and questions attach to the first verb. Put 不 or 没 before VP1, and form the A-not-A question on VP1: 我不去买东西 (wǒ bú qù mǎi dōngxi, I’m not going to buy things), 你去不去商店？ (nǐ qù bu qù shāngdiàn?, are you going to the store?). Note the sandhi: 不 becomes bú before the 4th-tone 去 (qù). Watch the 用 frame here: 不用 and 用不用 are also the fixed need not / do you need (= 不需要 / 需不需要), so a bare 他不用刀切面包 can be read either way - pin the tool reading with an adverb of habit, 他从来不用刀切面包。 (Tā cónglái bú yòng dāo qiē miànbāo.) - He never cuts bread with a knife. Whether an action was completed - where the particle 了 lands in a serial sentence - is the job of Completed-action 了 (verb + 了).
Forms & patterns
去 vs 来 - the deictic pair:
| Verb | Pinyin | Direction | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 去 | qù | away from the speaker (go) | 去中国 (qù Zhōngguó) - go to China |
| 来 | lái | toward the speaker (come) | 来我家 (lái wǒ jiā) - come to my house |
Serial-verb patterns:
| Pattern | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subj + 去/来 + Place + VP | go/come to a place to do sth | 我去商店买东西 (wǒ qù shāngdiàn mǎi dōngxi) |
| Subj + 去/来 + VP | go/come to do sth | 我去买东西 (wǒ qù mǎi dōngxi) |
| Subj + 坐/骑/开 + vehicle + 去/来 + Place | take X to go/come to a place | 我坐公交车去学校 (wǒ zuò gōngjiāochē qù xuéxiào) |
| Subj + 用 + tool + VP | use X to do sth | 我用手机看电影 (wǒ yòng shǒujī kàn diànyǐng) |
Examples
- 我去商店买东西。 (Wǒ qù shāngdiàn mǎi dōngxi.) - I’m going to the store to buy things.
- 她来我家吃饭。 (Tā lái wǒ jiā chī fàn.) - She’s coming to my place to eat.
- 我们去公园散步。 (Wǒmen qù gōngyuán sànbù.) - We’re going to the park to take a walk.
- 他每天坐地铁去上班。 (Tā měitiān zuò dìtiě qù shàngbān.) - He takes the subway to work every day.
- 我用筷子吃饭。 (Wǒ yòng kuàizi chī fàn.) - I eat with chopsticks.
- 你来帮我。 (Nǐ lái bāng wǒ.) - Come and help me.
- 我去邮局寄信。 (Wǒ qù yóujú jì xìn.) - I’m going to the post office to mail a letter.
- 他坐飞机去北京开会。 (Tā zuò fēijī qù Běijīng kāihuì.) - He flies to Beijing for a meeting.
- 周末我们去看电影。 (Zhōumò wǒmen qù kàn diànyǐng.) - On weekends we go to watch a movie.
- 我没去图书馆借书。 (Wǒ méi qù túshūguǎn jiè shū.) - I didn’t go to the library to borrow books.
Common mistakes
- 我去和买东西。 -> 我去买东西。 (Wǒ qù mǎi dōngxi.) - 和 joins nouns, never verbs; serial verbs take no connector at all.
- 我买东西去商店。 -> 我去商店买东西。 (Wǒ qù shāngdiàn mǎi dōngxi.) - keep the timeline order: you go first, then buy, so 去商店 comes before 买东西.
- (planning a trip from home) 我来北京。 -> 我去北京。 (Wǒ qù Běijīng.) - use 去 for motion away from where you are; 来 is only for motion toward the speaker.
- 我去不买东西。 -> 我不去买东西。 (Wǒ bú qù mǎi dōngxi.) - negate the first verb; 不/没 go before VP1, not before a later verb.
- 我去学校坐公交车。 -> 我坐公交车去学校。 (Wǒ zuò gōngjiāochē qù xuéxiào.) - the means (坐公交车) comes before the motion and goal (去学校).
Tips
- 来/去 are deictic, like English “come/go” but stricter: 去 points away from the speaker, 来 points toward them. “Go to your house” is 去你家; “come to my house” is 来我家 - swap them and the direction flips.
- Read a serial sentence as a mini-timeline: write the verbs in the order the actions happen (go first, then do the thing). English word order (“buy something at the store”) often reverses this, so trust the timeline, not the English.
- 去/来 already mean “go/come to”, so they take the destination bare - 去学校, not 去到学校 with an extra preposition. This is a false-friend trap against English “go TO school”.
- To join nouns you have 和 (hé); to string verbs in sequence you use nothing. If you catch yourself writing 和 between two verbs, delete it.