come
verb /kʌm/
/kʌm/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they come | /kʌm/ /kʌm/ |
| he / she / it comes | /kʌmz/ /kʌmz/ |
| past simple came | /keɪm/ /keɪm/ |
| past participle come | /kʌm/ /kʌm/ |
| -ing form coming | /ˈkʌmɪŋ/ /ˈkʌmɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive] to move to or towards a person or place
- + adv./prep. He left and said he was never coming back.
- He came into the room and shut the door.
- She comes to work by bus.
- My son is coming home soon.
- Come here!
- Come and see us soon!
- Here comes Jo! (= Jo is coming)
- There's a storm coming.
- come to do something They're coming to stay for a week.
Extra Examples- He came towards me.
- I hope you can come to Australia to visit us.
- It's looks as if there's a storm coming.
- When is your son coming home?
- [intransitive] to arrive at or reach a place
- come to… They continued until they came to a river.
- She came to work wearing a very smart suit.
- They came as far as the gate.
- People came from all over the country.
- Your breakfast is coming soon.
- Have any letters come for me?
- Help came at last.
Extra Examples- What time did you come (= to my house)?
- People came from all over the world to settle here.
- Let me know if any more mail comes.
- He came to England by ship.
- If you come late, the doctor may not be able to see you.
- [intransitive] to arrive somewhere in order to do something or get something
- come for something I've come for my book.
- come about something I've come about my book.
- come to do something I've come to get my book.
- come doing something He came looking for me.
Extra Examples- I've come for those books you promised me.
- I've come to see Mrs Cooper.
- [intransitive] to move or travel, especially with somebody else, to a particular place or in order to be present at an event
- I've only come for an hour.
- Thanks for coming (= to my house, party, etc.).
- come to do something Ten thousand people came to hear him speak.
- come to something Are you coming later?
- come to something with somebody Are you coming to the club with us tonight?
- come with somebody Come with me—I've got something to show you.
- come doing something Why don't you come skating tonight?
Extra Examples- Please come to my party on September 10th.
- Are you coming to the theatre with us this evening?
- I'm sorry, I won't be able to come.
- Despite all the publicity, not many people came.
- If you can't come to the meeting, let us know in advance.
- [intransitive] + noun to travel a particular distance
- We've come 50 miles this morning.
- (figurative) The company has come a long way (= made lot of progress) in the last 5 years.
Extra Examples- He's come all the way from Tokyo.
- We've come a long way and we're very tired.
- How far have you come?
- [intransitive] to move in a particular way or while doing something else
- come doing something + adv./prep. A car came flying round the corner.
- A huge wave came crashing over the sea wall.
- (figurative) Questions came rushing into her head.
- come doing something Don't expect me to come running every time you call.
Extra Examples- The children came running into the room.
- A crowd of men on horses carrying spears came charging down the road.
- [intransitive] to happen
- The agreement came after several hours of negotiations.
- The rains came too late to do any good.
- Spring came late this year.
- The time has come (= now is the moment) to act.
- His first goal came in the 81st minute.
- come as something His resignation came as no surprise.
- Her death came as a terrible shock to us.
- More details of the event are coming soon.
- (informal) Come summer, people like to eat outdoors.
Extra Examples- Dusk came quickly.
- I never thought the day would come when I'd feel sorry for him.
- The deadline came and went, but there was no reply from them.
- Business improved as Christmas came nearer.
- At last, the time came to leave.
- When the moment actually came, I began to feel a little nervous.
- He wanted to be buried beside her when the time came.
- The time had come to let a younger person lead the party.
- The high point of the concert came during the drum solo.
- Come November, the high-season horror of traffic jams subsides.
- [transitive] come to do something used in questions to talk about how or why something happened
- How did he come to break his leg?
- How do you come to be so late?
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. (not used in the progressive tenses) to have a particular position
- That comes a long way down my list of priorities.
- She came second (= received the second highest score) in the exam.
- His family comes first (= is the most important thing in his life).
- [intransitive] come to/into something used in many expressions to show that something has reached a particular state
- At last winter came to an end.
- He came to power in 2019.
- We need to come to an agreement on this issue.
- When will they come to a decision?
- our understanding of how the universe came into existence
- The trees are coming into leaf.
- [intransitive] (not used in the progressive tenses) (of goods, products, etc.) to be available or to exist in a particular way
- come in something This dress comes in black and red.
- come with something The DVD comes with several bonus features.
- New cars don't come cheap (= they are expensive).
Extra Examples- This luxury villa comes complete with its own private swimming pool.
- [intransitive, transitive] to become
- + adj. The handle came loose.
- The buttons had come undone.
- Everything will come right in the end.
- come to do something This design came to be known as the Oriental style.
- [transitive] come to do something to reach a point where you realize, understand or believe something
- In time she came to love him.
- She had come to see the problem in a new light.
- I've come to expect this kind of behaviour from him.
- [intransitive] (informal) to have an orgasm
to a place
travel
running/hurrying etc.
happen
to a position/state
sex
Word OriginOld English cuman, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch komen and German kommen.
Idioms Most idioms containing come are at the entries for the nouns or adjectives in the idioms, for example come a cropper is at cropper.
be as clever, stupid, etc. as they come
- (informal) to be very clever, stupid, etc.
come the… (informal)
- to play the part of a particular type of person; to behave in a particular way
- Don't come the innocent with me.
come again?
- (informal) used to ask somebody to repeat something
- ‘She's an entomologist.’ ‘Come again?’ ‘An entomologist—she studies insects.’
come and go
- to arrive and leave; to move freely
- They had a party next door—we heard people coming and going all night.
- to be present for a short time and then go away
- The pain in my leg comes and goes.
come easily, naturally, etc. to somebody
- (of an activity, a skill, etc.) to be easy, natural, etc. for somebody to do
- Acting comes naturally to her.
come to nothing | not come to anything
- to be unsuccessful; to have no successful result
- How sad that all his hard work should come to nothing.
- Her plans didn't come to anything.
come to that | if it comes to that
- (informal, especially British English) used to introduce something extra that is connected with what has just been said
- I don't really trust him—nor his wife, come to that.
come what may
- despite any problems or difficulties you may have
- He promised to support her come what may.
how come (…)? (informal)
- used to say you do not understand how something can happen and would like an explanation
- ‘I think you owe me some money.’ ‘How come?’
- If she spent five years in Paris, how come her French is so bad?
not come to much
- to not be important or successfulTopics Difficulty and failurec2
to come
- (used after a noun) in the future
- They may well regret the decision in years to come.
- This will be a problem for some time to come (= for a period of time in the future).
when it comes to (doing) something
- when it is a question of something
- When it comes to getting things done, he's useless.
where somebody is coming from
- (informal) somebody’s ideas, beliefs, personality, etc. that makes them say what they have said
- I see where you're coming from (= I understand what you mean).