出来 / 进去 / 回来 / 过去 / 起来 / 下来【chūlai / jìnqu / huílai / guòqu / qǐlai / xiàlai】

After a verb, a direction word – 上, 下, 进, 出, 回, 过 or 起 – plus 来 or 去 says which way something moves. 来 means toward the speaker and 去 means away. The simple form, a verb with 来 or 去 alone, has its own point.

起 only takes 来: 站起来 "stand up".

来 or 去 depends on where you are

The same movement takes 来 if it comes to you and 去 if it leaves you. Inside the room, you ask for the chair to be brought in with 搬进来; outside it, with 搬进去.

On the phone from home, you ask 你什么时候回来, because the other person is coming back to where you are.

• × 你什么时候回去？ (said from home) → 你什么时候回来？

A place goes before 来 or 去

A place noun sits between the direction word and 来 / 去. It never follows the whole complement.

• × 他走进来教室 → 他走进教室来
• × 我们爬上去山 → 我们爬上山去

A thing can go either side

An object that is a thing can go before 来 / 去 or after the whole complement. With 把, it goes in front of the verb.

起来, 下来, 出来 and the rest also have meanings with no movement in them – 想起来 "remember", 看出来 "notice". Those are a separate point.