TKG English Learner's Dictionary

come

comeverb

American /kʌm/ British /kʌm/ Come rhymes with some and sum, not with home.
third-person singular comes past tense came past participle come present participle coming
very commondefining vocabulary

To come is to move toward the speaker or toward a place, or to reach a point, a time, or a state.

  1. move towardmove or travel toward the person who is speaking or to the place they are talking about

    intransitive [I] verb + adverb or preposition [V + adv/prep] verb + to-infinitive [V + to-inf]

    Collocations

    verb + adverb come here, come back, come home, come inside
    verb + preposition come to something, come to see someone

    Antonyms go

    Compare go

  2. arrivearrive at the place where someone is, or reach them

    intransitive [I] verb + adverb or preposition [V + adv/prep]

    Collocations

    noun + verb a letter comes, the bus comes, help comes

    Synonyms arrive

  3. go with someonego somewhere with the person who is speaking

    intransitive [I] verb + adverb or preposition [V + adv/prep]

    Collocations

    verb + preposition come with someone
    verb + adverb come along

  4. happenhappen or arrive at a particular time or in a particular order

    intransitive [I] verb + adverb or preposition [V + adv/prep]

    Collocations

    verb + adverb come first, come next, come last, come soon

  5. reachreach as far as a particular point or level

    intransitive [I] verb + adverb or preposition [V + adv/prep]

    Collocations

    verb + preposition come up to something, come down to something

    1. afinish a race or a competition in a particular position

      intransitive [I] verb + adverb or preposition [V + adv/prep]

      Collocations

      phrase come in first, come in second, come in last

  6. be frombe born in or live in a particular place, or be made or taken from something

    intransitive [I] verb + preposition + object [V + prep + obj] not used in continuous tenses [no continuous]

    Collocations

    verb + preposition come from somewhere, come from something

  7. becomebecome or get into a particular state

    linking [L] verb + adjective [V + adj]

    Collocations

    phrase come true, come loose, come undone, come open

    Synonyms become

  8. be soldbe sold or made in a particular form, size, or color, or with something

    intransitive [I] verb + preposition + object [V + prep + obj] not used in continuous tenses [no continuous]

    Collocations

    verb + preposition come in, come with

  9. begin tobegin to have a feeling or an idea, slowly over time

    intransitive [I] verb + to-infinitive [V + to-inf]

    Collocations

    phrase come to believe, come to know, come to realize

Phrases

how come informal

used to ask why something has happened or is true

The word order after how come is the order of a statement, not a question: how come you're late?

come and go

arrive and leave again, or be present for a short time only

come to think of it informal

used when you suddenly remember or realize something while you are speaking

when it comes to something

when you are talking or thinking about something

come clean informal

tell the truth about something that you have kept secret

come what may formal

whatever happens

Word family

  • coming
  • newcomer
  • income

Choosing between come · go

Use come for movement toward the place where the speaker or the listener is, or will be, and go for movement to some other place. When someone calls you, you usually say I'm coming, not I'm going. When you invite someone, say Can you come to my party?

Common mistakes

I'm going! (answering someone who called you) I'm coming!
When you move toward the person who is calling you, English usually uses come.
He has came home. He has come home.
The past participle of come is come; came is only the past tense.

See also come back (return); come in (enter a room or a building); come on (used to tell someone to hurry or try harder); come up (be mentioned, or happen suddenly); come across (find or meet by chance); come out (appear, or become known)

For translators

Meaning across languages In some languages the choice between come and go depends only on movement toward the speaker. English usually also uses come for movement toward the listener, or to a place where the listener will be: I'll come to your office at three.
Grammar trap The past participle is the same as the base form: she has come, not she has came.