---
title: "verb + 来 + verb + 去 in Chinese Grammar: Do something over and over, With Examples"
description: "verb + 来 + verb + 去: do something over and over; back and forth. Verb 来 verb 去: doing something repeatedly or in every direction. 4 real lines from stories, each word explained."
canonical: "https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-lai-v-qu"
author: "Mandarin The Wild"
---

[Chinese grammar](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar)

# verb + 来 + verb + 去

Do something over and over; back and forth

Verb 来 verb 去: doing something repeatedly or in every direction.

## In stories

孙悟空疼得在地上**滚来滚去**：“师父，别念了！

[火烧观音院 · Fire at Guanyin Temple](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/fire-at-guanyin-temple-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-13#library-word-841-845) HSK 3

两个人**打来打去**，打了很久。

[齐天大圣 · Great Sage Equal to Heaven](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/great-sage-equal-to-heaven-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-6#library-word-674-678) HSK 3

他们大多穿着黄色或者蓝色的衣服，骑着电动车，每天在路上**跑来跑去**。

[一碗面的三十分钟 · How does food delivery work in China?](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/how-food-delivery-works-in-china#library-word-224-228) HSK 3

孙悟空在里面**打来打去**，黑熊精疼得在地上动来动去，大叫：“疼死我了！”

[黑熊精 · The Black Bear Demon](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/the-black-bear-demon-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-14#library-word-606-610) HSK 3

[Read 火烧观音院](https://mandarinthewild.com/library/read/fire-at-guanyin-temple-journey-to-the-west-easy-chinese-13#library-word-841-845)

## More patterns

- [去/来 + place + verb (go somewhere to do something) go somewhere to do something](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/qu-place-v)
- [越来越 + adjective more and more …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/yuelaiyue)
- [听起来 sounds (like); it sounds …](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/tingqilai)
- [verb + 下去 (keep on) keep on doing it; continue](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/v-xiaqu)
- [看起来 looks (like); it seems](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/kanqilai)
- [对…来说 for …; as far as … is concerned](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-grammar/dui-lai-shuo)

## What does verb + 来 + verb + 去 mean in Chinese?

Do something over and over; back and forth. Verb 来 verb 去: doing something repeatedly or in every direction.

## How common is verb + 来 + verb + 去?

It comes up in 27 readings of the 392 stories and articles in our free Library.

## Does it correct my mistakes?

No. It shows which patterns a text uses and what each one does; it doesn’t mark errors. Paste a sentence you wrote to see whether it uses the pattern you meant.

## More free tools

- [Chinese dictionary](https://mandarinthewild.com/chinese-dictionary)
- [Measure words](https://mandarinthewild.com/measure-words)
- [How hard is this text?](https://mandarinthewild.com/text-level)
- [Free Chinese stories](https://mandarinthewild.com/library)

Patterns found by our own parser; lines from our free Library.