Meaning
to come
Chinese: 表示到说话人所在处，也可表示趋向。
Hear the Four Tones
The same syllable “lai” becomes a different word in each tone. 来 is the 2nd tone. Tap any tone to hear a native voice and see its pitch shape.
Stroke Order
Tap Animate to watch the strokes in order, or Practice to trace it yourself.
Common Words
- 起来qǐ laito stand up; to get up
- 出来chū láito come out; to appear; to arise
- 回来huí laito return; to come back
- 来到lái dàoto arrive; to come
- 进来jìn láito come in
Example Sentence
欢迎你来我家做客。Huān yíng nǐ lái wǒ jiā zuò kè.Welcome to my home as a guest.
欢迎Huān yíngto welcome你nǐyou来láito come我wǒI家jiāhome做客zuò kèto be a guest or visitor。
Go deeper
Where this character comes from
Originally a pictograph of a wheat plant with hanging ears. It was borrowed for its sound to write ‘to come’, and that meaning took over. Simplified from 來.
A way to remember it
A stalk of grain — picture the harvest ‘coming’ in.
Easy to confuse with
- 米‘Rice’: also grain-based, but built around a cross of scattered grains.