来 (lái) is the counterpart to 去 (qù, to go), indicating movement toward the speaker or a reference point. As a directional complement appended to other verbs, 来 signals movement toward the speaker: 拿来 (bring here), 进来 (come in), 上来 (come up). This directional complement system is a key feature of Mandarin verb grammar.

The simplified character 来 and its traditional form 來 both derive from a pictograph of a wheat or barley plant. The word originally meant "wheat arriving" (i.e., the harvest coming), and its meaning generalised to "to come." It appears in many common expressions including 来得及 (lái de jí, to have enough time) and 将来 (jiānglái, the future).