Phrasal Verbs with Come: 13 Meanings You Actually Need

Come is the mirror of go: movement the speaker, or towards wherever the story is happening. The phrasal verbs keep that direction. Ideas come up in a meeting because they arrive where you are. A book comes out because it moves from the publisher into the world. An illness comes on, a lost photo comes across your path.

That direction gives the family one lovely property: because the subject does the moving, there is no object to shuffle around, so phrasal verbs inseparable. Learn the meaning and the word order looks after itself.

The 13 phrasal verbs with come

Where an object exists, it simply follows the particle. The middle position that separable phrasal verbs allow never happens here.

Phrasal verb	Meaning	Example	Separable?
come back		She came back from Italy on Sunday.
come in		Come in and sit down.
come on	; ; (, )	Come on, we will miss the bus!
come across	;	I came across an old letter yesterday.
come up	; unexpectedly	Something has come up, so I will be late.
come up with		She came up with a better idea.	,
come out	( , ) ; ( )	The film comes out next week.
come over		Come over after work.
come round	; conscious ;	He came round to my way of thinking.
come along	;	Your English is coming along well.
come down with		She came down with a cold before the trip.	,
come from	born	He comes from Leeds.
come apart		The old book came apart in my hands.

The three you must know

. The first meaning is finding without searching: I came across this cafe by accident. Have you ever come across that word before? The thing found follows straight after. The second meaning is about impressions, and it is gold in conversation about people: She comes across as very confident. I hope I did not come across as rude. The pattern is come across as + adjective, and it describes how others see you, which may not be how you are.

. The idea verb. Plans, answers, excuses and names are all things people come up with: Who came up with that name? We have one day to come up with a solution. English speakers use it far more often than invent or devise, which sound formal. Keep all three words and keep the order.

. Probably the most spoken item on this page, because it is what English speakers say to urge anyone to do anything: hurry (come on, the taxi is here), try harder (come on, you can do this), or be serious (oh come on, that is not true). Tone of voice does most of the work. It also describes things beginning: I can feel a cold coming on. The rain came on at five.

British and American differences

/ . Same three meanings; round is the usual British form and around the usual American one. British speakers also say come round for a visit where Americans usually say come over.
meaning to progress (the project is coming along) is shared, but the cheering use, come along now!, sounds distinctly British.
for weather: the sun came out is universal English and worth learning in the same breath as the rain beginning to come on.

Common mistakes

separable . I came it across is impossible. No come phrasal verb splits.
Dropping the with. She came up a plan loses the meaning; ideas need come up with. Compare something came up (no object, meaning an unexpected event), which is a different verb.
Come across + as confusion. For impressions the as is required: he comes across as honest, not he comes across honest.
Confusing come back and go back. Direction decides: come back moves towards the speaker (come back home, we miss you), go back moves away (she went back to Japan).

More phrasal verb families

The grammar behind the whole topic is in the phrasal verbs guide, with many more sentences in the phrasal verbs examples list.

Practise: test yourself

Pick the right one

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Choose the correct particle to complete each phrasal verb with come.

I came your keys under the sofa.
Her new book comes in May.
Something urgent has come at work.
Come to our place for dinner on Friday.
When will they come from Spain?
He comes a small town in Wales.

Fill in the blank

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Write the missing word to complete each phrasal verb.

We need to come up a cheaper plan.
Half the class came down the flu.
My cheap umbrella came in the wind.
Come ! We are going to be late.
The truth came during the trial.

Matching

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Match each phrasal verb to its meaning.

Frequently asked questions

What are the most common phrasal verbs with come?

The everyday ones are come back (return), come in (enter), come on (hurry, or try harder), come across (find by chance), come up with (think of an idea) and come out (a book or film becomes available). Those six appear constantly in speech.

What does come across mean?

It has two useful meanings. To find something by chance: I came across an old photo while tidying. And to give a particular impression: he comes across as shy, but he is just quiet. In the second meaning it is usually followed by as plus an adjective or noun.

What is the difference between come over and come round?

For visiting someone at home they mean the same thing: come over after work, come round for dinner. Come round is the more British of the two. Come round has two extra meanings that come over does not have: to become conscious again after fainting, and to change your opinion at last: he came round to my way of thinking.

Are phrasal verbs with come separable?

No, and that makes come one of the easiest families to use. Come describes movement of the subject itself, so these verbs take no object between the verb and the particle. The object, where there is one, follows the particle: come across a photo, come up with a plan.