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Directional Verbs

How movement, direction and path are expressed in Spanish, English and Chinese.

Compare languages

Spanish uses ir/venir with prepositions. English uses phrasal verbs extensively. Chinese combines a main verb with a directional complement (来lái/去qù/上shàng/下xià/出chū/进jìn/回huí/过guò).

Overview

Directional verbs express movement toward or away from a reference point, usually the speaker.

Spanish: Uses ir (go), venir (come), llevar (take), traer (bring), plus prepositions (a, hacia, desde). Direction is determined by verb choice and preposition.
English: Uses come/go and bring/take, plus phrasal verbs (come in, go out, get up, sit down). Directional particles (in, out, up, down, on, off) combine with verbs.
Chinese: Has a unique system of directional complements: a main verb combines with a directional verb (来lái/去qù/上shàng/下xià/出chū/进jìn/回huí/过guò) to indicate both action and direction.

Spanish

Ir vs venir

	Direction	Example
ir	Away from speaker	Voy a tu casa. (I’m going to your house.)
venir	Toward speaker	Ven a mi casa. (Come to my house.)

Rule: The reference point is usually the speaker. In storytelling, it can be the narrative center.

Llevar vs traer

	Direction	Example
llevar	Away from speaker	Lleva el libro a la escuela. (Take the book to school.)
traer	Toward speaker	Trae el libro a casa. (Bring the book home.)

Basic directional verbs

Spanish	Meaning	Example
entrar	enter	Entra, por favor.
salir	exit / leave	Sal de aquí.
subir	go up / get on	Sube las escaleras.
bajar	go down / get off	Baja del autobús.
acercarse	approach	Acércate un poco.
alejarse	move away	Aléjate de mí.
pasar	pass / come in	Pasa, pasa.
volver	return	Vuelve pronto.
regresar	return	Regresa mañana.

Prepositions of direction

Preposition	Meaning	Example
a	to (direction)	Voy a Madrid.
hacia	toward	Camina hacia mí.
desde	from	Vengo desde Madrid.
hasta	until / as far as	Hasta luego.
por	through / by	Pasa por aquí.
de	from	Sal de casa.

Commands with direction

Ven aquí. (Come here.)
Vete de aquí. (Go away from here.)
Pasa adentro. (Come inside.)
Sal fuera. (Go outside.)

Reflexive directional verbs

Acercarse (approach): Me acerqué. (I approached.)
Alejarse (move away): Se alejó. (He moved away.)
Subirse (get on): Me subí al tren. (I got on the train.)
Bajarse (get off): Me bajé del autobús. (I got off the bus.)

English

Come vs go

	Direction	Example
come	Toward speaker/center	Come here.
go	Away from speaker/center	Go there.

Important: Direction is relative to the speaker or the deictic center:

I’m at home. Please come to my house. (toward me)
I’m at your house. I need to go home now. (away from here)

Bring vs take

	Direction	Example
bring	Toward speaker/center	Bring it here.
take	Away from speaker/center	Take it there.

Examples:

I’ll bring snacks to the party. (toward the party — the center of attention)
Please take this to the kitchen. (away from here)

Phrasal verbs for direction

English uses phrasal verbs extensively for direction:

Verb + Particle	Meaning	Example
come in	enter toward speaker	Come in!
go out	exit away	Let’s go out.
come up	ascend toward	Come up here.
go down	descend away	Go down the stairs.
get on	board	Get on the bus.
get off	disembark	Get off at the next stop.
come back	return toward	Come back soon.
go away	leave	Go away!
come over	visit	Come over tonight.
go back	return away	Go back to work.

Particles and their meanings

Particle	Core direction
up	upward / completion
down	downward / recording
in	inward / inclusion
out	outward / exclusion
on	continuation / attachment
off	cessation / detachment
over	across / visitation
back	return
away	distance

Prepositions of movement

Preposition	Example
to	Go to school.
into	Go into the room.
out of	Get out of here.
through	Go through the tunnel.
across	Walk across the street.
along	Walk along the beach.
up	Climb up the mountain.
down	Walk down the hill.
toward(s)	Walk toward me.
away from	Run away from danger.

Chinese

Directional complements: the core system

Chinese combines a main verb with a directional complement to show both action and direction:

Simple directional complements (来lái/去qù):

Main verb	+ 来lái (toward)	+ 去qù (away)
走zǒu (walk)	走zǒu来lái (walk here)	走zǒu去qù (walk away)
跑pǎo (run)	跑pǎo来lái (run here)	跑pǎo去qù (run away)
拿ná (take)	拿ná来lái (bring here)	拿ná去qù (take away)
送sòng (deliver)	送sòng来lái (send here)	送sòng去qù (send away)

Compound directional complements (path + direction):

Path	+ 来lái (toward)	+ 去qù (away)
上shàng (up)	上shàng来lái (come up)	上shàng去qù (go up)
下xià (down)	下xià来lái (come down)	下xià去qù (go down)
进jìn (in)	进jìn来lái (come in)	进jìn去qù (go in)
出chū (out)	出chū来lái (come out)	出chū去qù (go out)
回huí (back)	回huí来lái (come back)	回huí去qù (go back)
过guò (over/across)	过guò来lái (come over)	过guò去qù (go over)
起qǐ (up)	起qǐ来lái (get up)	起qǐ去qù (rare)

Direction is speaker-relative

上shàng来lái = come up (toward speaker)
上shàng去qù = go up (away from speaker)
下xià来lái = come down (toward speaker)
下xià去qù = go down (away from speaker)

Main verb + compound complement

The main verb can precede the compound:

走zǒu上shàng来lái (walk up here)
跑pǎo出chū去qù (run out there)
拿ná进jìn来lái (bring in here)
扔rēng出chū去qù (throw out there)

起qǐ来lái as inceptive

起qǐ来lái can indicate the beginning of an action:

唱chàng起qǐ来lái (start singing)
跳tiào起qǐ来lái (jump up / start dancing)
想xiǎng起qǐ来lái (remember — “think up”)

Directional complements with objects

When an object is present, it goes between the main verb and the complement or after the complement:

拿ná书shū出chū来lái (take the book out here)
拿ná出chū一yì本běn书shū来lái (take out a book here)

Comparison at a glance

Direction	Spanish	English	Chinese
Toward speaker	venir / traer	come / bring	verb + 来lái
Away from speaker	ir / llevar	go / take	verb + 去qù
Enter toward	entra / pasa	come in	进jìn来lái
Exit away	sal	go out	出chū去qù
Ascend toward	sube	come up	上shàng来lái
Descend away	baja	go down	下xià去qù
Return toward	vuelve	come back	回huí来lái
Return away	regresa	go back	回huí去qù
Bring (toward)	trae	bring	拿ná来lái
Take (away)	lleva	take	拿ná去qù
Phrasal verbs	Limited	Extensive	Directional complements

Examples

In Context

Spanish	English	Chinese
Entra / Pasa.	Come in.	进jìn来lái。
Vete de aquí.	Go away.	走zǒu开kāi / 出chū去qù。
Trae el libro.	Bring the book here.	把bǎ书shū拿ná来lái。
Subí.	I went up.	我wǒ上shàng去qù了le。

Common mistakes

English speakers learning Chinese: Omitting directional complement: 进jìn → 进jìn来lái (for “come in”)
Chinese speakers learning English: Literal translation: Go up come → Come up
English speakers learning Spanish: Using ir where venir is needed: Voy a tu fiesta when you’re at the party → Vienes a mi fiesta
Spanish speakers learning English: Confusing bring/take: Take the wine to the party (where you are) → Bring the wine

Prepositions: How prepositions mark direction
Imperatives: How directional commands are formed
Phrasal Verbs: How English combines verbs with particles
Causatives: How directional verbs interact with causative constructions

Examples

Come here

Ven aquí

Go there

Ve allí

Come in

Entra / Pasa

Go out

Sal

Come up

Sube

Go down

Baja

Bring (toward speaker)

Trae

Take (away from speaker)

Lleva

Examples

Come here

Go there

Come in

Go out

Come up

Go down

Bring (toward speaker)

Bring

Take (away from speaker)

Take

Examples

Come here

过guò来lái

Go there

过guò去qù

Come in

进jìn来lái

Go out

出chū去qù

Come up

上shàng来lái

Go down

下xià去qù

Bring (toward speaker)

拿ná来lái / 带dài来lái

Take (away from speaker)

拿ná去qù / 带dài去qù

Comparison at a glance

Grammar concepts	Spanish	English	Chinese
Come here	Ven aquí	Come here	过guò来lái
Go there	Ve allí	Go there	过guò去qù
Come in	Entra / Pasa	Come in	进jìn来lái
Go out	Sal	Go out	出chū去qù
Come up	Sube	Come up	上shàng来lái
Go down	Baja	Go down	下xià去qù
Bring (toward speaker)	Trae	Bring	拿ná来lái / 带dài来lái
Take (away from speaker)	Lleva	Take	拿ná去qù / 带dài去qù

Side-by-side comparison

Grammar concepts	Spanish	English	Chinese
Come here	Ven aquí	Come here	过guò来lái
Go there	Ve allí	Go there	过guò去qù
Come in	Entra / Pasa	Come in	进jìn来lái
Go out	Sal	Go out	出chū去qù
Come up	Sube	Come up	上shàng来lái
Go down	Baja	Go down	下xià去qù
Bring (toward speaker)	Trae	Bring	拿ná来lái / 带dài来lái
Take (away from speaker)	Lleva	Take	拿ná去qù / 带dài去qù

Examples in context

Come here

Spanish

Ven aquí

English

Come here

Chinese

过guò来lái

Go there

Spanish

Ve allí

English

Go there

Chinese

过guò去qù

Come in

Spanish

Entra / Pasa

English

Come in

Chinese

进jìn来lái

Go out

Spanish

Sal

English

Go out

Chinese

出chū去qù

Come up

Spanish

Sube

English

Come up

Chinese

上shàng来lái

Go down

Spanish

Baja

English

Go down

Chinese

下xià去qù

Bring (toward speaker)

Spanish

Trae

English

Bring

Chinese

拿ná来lái / 带dài来lái

Take (away from speaker)

Spanish

Lleva

English

Take

Chinese

拿ná去qù / 带dài去qù

Key Takeaways

Spanish: Uses ir (go), venir (come), llevar (take), traer (bring), plus prepositions (a, hacia, desde). Direction is determined by verb choice and pr.

English: Uses come/go and bring/take, plus phrasal verbs (come in, go out, get up, sit down). Directional particles (in, out, up, down, on, off) comb.

Chinese: Has a unique system of directional complements: a main verb combines with a directional verb (来lái/去qù/上shàng/下xià/出chū/进jìn/回huí/过guò) to i. Chinese combines a main verb with a directional complement (来lái/去qù

Key concepts compared: Come here, Go there, Come in.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Chinese combine direction and path into a single compound while English uses phrasal verbs?

Chinese directional complements fuse path and direction: <ruby>进<rt>jìn</rt></ruby><ruby>来<rt>lái</rt></ruby> (enter + toward speaker = come in), <ruby>出<rt>chū</rt></ruby><ruby>去<rt>qù</rt></ruby> (exit + away from speaker = go out). English separates them into phrasal verbs: 'come in,' 'go out,' 'get up.' Spanish uses simple verbs: *Entra* (come in), *Sal* (go out). A Chinese speaker learning English must learn that 'come' and 'in' are separate words, and an English speaker learning Chinese must fuse them into compounds.

How does the deictic center (speaker's position) differ between Spanish and Chinese directional systems?

Spanish *venir* (come) and *ir* (go) are strictly deictic: *venir* = toward speaker, *ir* = away from speaker. Chinese directional complements (<ruby>来<rt>lái</rt></ruby>/<ruby>去<rt>qù</rt></ruby>) are also deictic but attach to any motion verb: <ruby>走<rt>zǒu</rt></ruby><ruby>来<rt>lái</rt></ruby> (walk toward speaker), <ruby>跑<rt>pǎo</rt></ruby><ruby>去<rt>qù</rt></ruby> (run away from speaker). English 'come' and 'go' are deictic but cannot attach to other verbs; English uses 'bring/take' instead. Spanish speakers learning Chinese will appreciate the deictic logic but must learn the compounding rule.

Why do Chinese learners struggle with English phrasal verbs like 'get up' and 'sit down'?

Chinese directional complements are bound morphemes fused to the main verb: <ruby>站<rt>zhàn</rt></ruby><ruby>起<rt>qǐ</rt></ruby><ruby>来<rt>lái</rt></ruby> (stand + up + toward = stand up). English phrasal verbs are syntactically separable: 'Get up,' 'Sit down,' 'Turn off the light' / 'Turn the light off.' The separability rule in English is unpredictable and must be memorized. Chinese speakers will produce 'Turn off it' instead of 'Turn it off,' failing to apply the particle-shift rule.

References

Nueva gramática de la lengua española — Real Academia Española / Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española, 2010
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language — Huddleston & Pullum, Cambridge University Press, 2002
A Comprehensive Grammar of the Modern Chinese Language — Li & Thompson, 1981

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verb-tenses

Last updated: June 4, 2026

Overview

Spanish

Ir vs venir

Llevar vs traer

Basic directional verbs

Prepositions of direction

Commands with direction

Reflexive directional verbs

English

Come vs go

Bring vs take

Phrasal verbs for direction

Particles and their meanings

Prepositions of movement

Chinese

Directional complements: the core system

Direction is speaker-relative

Main verb + compound complement

起qǐ来lái as inceptive

Directional complements with objects

Comparison at a glance

Examples

In Context

Common mistakes

Related topics

Examples

Examples

Examples

Comparison at a glance

Side-by-side comparison

Examples in context

Key Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions

References