The rule: moving away from here → 去 (heoi3); moving toward here → 嚟 (lai4). "Here" can also mean where the person you are speaking to is: heading to their place, 嚟 is natural, and 去 works too. The anchor decides, not the direction on a map.
| 去 | 嚟 | |
|---|---|---|
| Jyutping | heoi3 (tone 3, mid level) | lai4 (tone 4, low falling) |
| Direction | Away from the speaker, to a place | Toward the speaker, or toward the person being spoken to |
| English twin | go | come |
| Compounds | 去過 (have been there), 返去 (go back), 過去 (go over) | 返嚟 (come back), 過嚟 (come over) |
| In writing | Same character in speech and writing | Spoken form of 來 (loi4); formal writing keeps 來 |
| Situation | Say | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "Where are you going?" | 你去邊度 | Movement away to a place: 去 |
| "Come over here" | 過嚟 | Movement toward the speaker: 嚟 |
| "I'll come to your place tomorrow" | 我聽日去你屋企 | Neutral: the trip is away from where you are now. 嚟你屋企 is also fine when you are speaking to someone at home |
| "Coming!" (answering a call) | 嚟喇 | You are heading toward the caller: 嚟, with 喇 marking the move as starting now (see 喇 vs 啦) |
| "I've been there" | 我去過 | A trip away to a place, already done: 去 plus 過 |
| "I'm going back" / "I'm coming back" | 返去 / 返嚟 | Same 返 (back), the second syllable picks the direction |
Thinking 嚟 is only for movement toward the speaker. It also points at the person you are talking to: 我聽日嚟你屋企, said to someone at home, is ordinary Cantonese, and so is 去 in the same sentence. What 嚟 cannot do is reach a place that is neither here nor where your listener is: going to the office is 去公司, not 嚟公司.
More classic mix-ups: 喇 vs 啦, 睇 vs 見, 係 vs 喺; more learner answers on the FAQ page.
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