When do I use "Come" and when do I use "Go"?

Is the movement toward where you (the speaker) are? "Come". Is the movement toward somewhere else? "Go".

What is the most common mistake with "Come" and "Go"?

"Do you want to go to my house for dinner?" said to your guest is wrong: when inviting someone to where you are, use "come". "Do you want to come to my house for dinner?" Same logic as bring/take: "come" = toward where the speaker is, "go" = toward somewhere else.

How do I remember the difference between "Come" and "Go"?

"Come" = movement TOWARD where the speaker is ("come here"). "Go" = movement AWAY from the speaker ("go there"). Exactly the same logic as bring/take.

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Which one to use?Beginnerverbverb

ComevsGo

One moves toward the speaker, the other moves away from the speaker.

Side-by-side comparison

Come

verb

"Come" implies movement toward where the speaker or listener is. When someone invites you, they say "come here" because you move toward their position.

Can you come to my office?
Come here! I need to show you something.
She came to the party late.
Could you come to the conference room at 3 p.m.? We need your input on the restructuring proposal before the board meeting.
She said she would come to the office early on Monday to help set up for the client visit, her initiative really made a difference.

verb

"Go" implies movement away from where the speaker is. When you say "I'm going to the store", you are moving away from your current location.

I will go to the store tomorrow.
Let's go to the beach!
He went home after work.
I need to go to the client site tomorrow morning to review the installation in person before the official handover next week.
If the meeting runs over, could you go ahead and start without me? I will join as soon as I can.

Common mistake

•"Do you want to go to my house for dinner?" said to your guest is wrong: when inviting someone to where you are, use "come".
•"Do you want to come to my house for dinner?" Same logic as bring/take: "come" = toward where the speaker is, "go" = toward somewhere else.

Trick to remember it

•"Come" = movement TOWARD where the speaker is ("come here").
•"Go" = movement AWAY from the speaker ("go there").
•Exactly the same logic as bring/take.

Quick rule

•Is the movement toward where you (the speaker) are? "Come".
•Is the movement toward somewhere else? "Go".

Did you know?

"Come" and "go" are two of the most irregular verbs in English. "Go" has the most surprising suppletive form in the language: its past tense is "went", which actually comes from a completely different verb ("wend" = to travel). It is one of the rare cases where the past tense of a verb comes from a totally different lexical root. "Come" is also irregular: come / came / come, the same form for both the infinitive and the past participle.