来 / 去【lái / qù】

来 or 去 after a verb says which way the action moves: 来 towards the speaker, 去 away from them. 来 and 去 lose their tone here.

The verbs that take them most often are 进 "enter", 出 "exit", 回 "return", 上 "up", 下 "down" and 过 "across", along with 拿, 带 and 送 for carrying things.

来 or 去 depends on where the speaker is

The same movement takes 来 or 去 according to where the speaker stands.

A place goes in the middle

A place goes between the verb and 来 / 去, never after them.

• × 他回去家了 → 他回家去了
• × 老师进来教室了 → 老师进教室来了

A thing can go either side

An object that is a thing, not a place, can go before 来 / 去 or after them.

Forms with a second direction word, such as 走进来 and 拿出去, are the compound direction complement.