Come & Go: partial inversion

The correct use of the verbs come and go causes problems for speakers of Portuguese. Depending on the context, come and go indicate a direction opposite to the corresponding words in Portuguese. There is a partial, context dependent inversion, of the direction indicated by come and go. Incorrect use and possible resulting problem is shown in Figure 1. Correct use is shown in Figure 2. The arrows indicate where Julie's boss thinks she is going because of her answer.

This context dependent inversion of come and go is probably result of the fact that Portuguese has a preposition indicating “there where you, the listener, are”, while English doesn't have a preposition with this meaning. When responding to a request to come, one communicates “there where you are” by placing oneself in the position of the person who made the request. As a result, in these cases, the direction indicated by come and go are inverted in comparison to their Portuguese equivalents.

Answering I'm going means “I'm moving to a place where neither of us is“ (See Figure 1). Answering I'm coming means “I'm moving to the place where you, who made the request, are“ (Figure 2).

Not applying this context dependent inversion correctly in English can cause that a person who makes a request thinks the request is refused. This can lead to unpleasant situations, like in Figure 1 or the less drastic but still unpleasantly confusing example below.

Peter is confused because Sue does not use the context dependent inversion. She does not say I'm coming. Peter understands she will not move to where he and the others are. She is not placing herself in Peter's position. By saying I'm going, Sue communicates she is moving to another place than the place where Peter and the others are. That is why Peter is confused and disappointed.

With the following response. Sue would have avoided the problem, Peter would have understood right away.

The idea of placing oneself in the position of the other also helps to find out which word to use when referring to a place where none of the speakers is at the time of requesting or suggesting. This can happen for instance when making an appointment and deciding where to meet.

The following ways of making suggestions are all possible but they have different connotations.

• Yesterday I met Julie. She wants to goto the open-air museum. Do you want to go with us?
  Explanation: We all move in the same direction.
• Yesterday I met Julie. She wants to go to the open-air museum. Do you want to come with us?
  Explanation: We go and take you with us.
• Let's meet in the afternoon at Julie's. I'll meet her at lunch. When do you think you can come?
  Explanation: In the afternoon, “I” and Julie are already there so at that time “you” will be moving in “my” direction. That is why the word come is used.

The problem of mixing up come and go, can be avoided by using alternatives like the following.

• “When do you think you can arrive.”
• “When do you think you will be there.”

They are common expressions for situations like this.

Bring, Take, Get

The same context dependent inversion happens with bring, which means come and have something or somebody with oneself and take, which means go and have something or somebody with oneself.

In cases when it is necessary to go somewhere in order to come back with someone or something, the verb get is used.