All about the verb “to come” in English
Learning “to come” in English through practicing
In the English language, “to come” is one of the most commonly used verbs. The verb “to come” means “to arrive”, “to reach”, or “to happen”. It is an irregular verb, so its forms are not created according to the rule. Here are the five main forms of the verb to come:
| Form | Example |
|---|---|
| Base Form | to come |
| Past Simple | came |
| Past Participle | come |
| Present Participle | coming |
| -s Form | comes |
The verb “to come” can be used in different tenses. Example:
- Present Simple: I come to school every day.
- Present Continuous: She is coming to the party tonight.
- Past Simple: He came home late yesterday.
- Past Continuous: They were coming back from the cinema when it started to rain.
- Present Perfect: We have come a long way since we met.
- Present Perfect Continuous: She has been coming to this gym for three months.
- Past Perfect: He had come to see me before he left.
- Past Perfect Continuous: They had been coming to this restaurant for years.
- Future Simple: I will come to your wedding.
- Future Continuous: He will be coming to the meeting tomorrow.
- Future Perfect: She will have come back by then.
- Future Perfect Continuous: We will have been coming to this beach for ten years.
The verb “to come” can be used in various contexts and has many meanings, including:
- To move towards/approach, for example: They are coming this way.
- To arrive somewhere, for example: When did you come home yesterday?
- To happen or occur, for example: Christmas is coming soon.
- To originate from somewhere, for example: He comes from a small town.
- To develop into a state, for example: Night came quickly.
- To be a successor, for example: Many presidents have come and gone.
The verb “to come” as a phrasal verb
Here are some examples of phrasal verbs with “come” and their meanings in English:
- Come about: Happen, occur.
- The change in plans came about because of unforeseen circumstances.
- Come along: Appear gradually (with people or things).
- A new opportunity came along, so she decided to pursue it.
- Come across: Encounter, find by chance.
- While cleaning the attic, I came across an old photo album.
- Come back: Return (to a place).
- After years abroad, he decided to come back home.
- Come before: Be presented to, be brought up for consideration.
- Climate change came before global leaders for discussion.
- Come forward: Volunteer, offer to help.
- Witnesses finally came forward to testify.
- Come in: Rank in a competition or order.
- Our team came in first place.
- Come off: Happen successfully.
- Despite challenges, the event came off well.
- Come out: Be made known or be released.
- Details came out about the scandal.
- Come up with: Think of or devise.
- They came up with an innovative solution.
- Come into: Inherit or receive.
- She came into an inheritance from a relative.
- Come up: Arise, happen.
- New issues kept coming up.
- Come in handy: Be useful.
- The batteries came in handy during the outage.
- Come over: Visit someone’s home.
- Feel free to come over anytime!
- Come through: Endure, survive.
- They came through a tough time.
- Come apart: Separate, fall into pieces.
- The old book was coming apart.
- Come away: Leave a place with something.
- I came away with valuable insights.
- Come away with: Gain or acquire something (such as knowledge or impressions)
- After attending the workshop, participants came away with valuable insights
- Come down with: Become ill with.
- She came down with the flu before vacation.
- Come forward with: Present or provide.
- He came forward with a suggestion.
Practice using “to come” as a phrasal verb
Having become familiar in detail with the verb “to come” and phrasal verbs with it, we will check our knowledge in practice by completing an exercise where you need to choose the correct expression with “come”.