Go vs. Come – English Grammar Exercises for A1
You are standing in the office, holding your bag, and telling your colleagues around you that you have to go out to meet a client or attend a meeting. Both you and your colleagues are in the same space, and you are about to leave.
Choose the best word (A, B, C, or D) to complete the sentences.
1 “I have my bag ready. I need to ______ to the meeting room now.”
(A) come
(B) going
(C) go
(D) leave
2 “Please take my phone calls. I am ______ to see a client in District 1”
(A) going
(B) coming
(C) go
(D) arriving
3 “The taxi is waiting downstairs. I must ______ out for a business lunch.”
(A) to go
(B) go
(C) come
(D) going
4 “Tell the manager that I am ______ to the partner’s office right now.”
(A) comes
(B) coming
(C) goes
(D) going
5 “It is almost 2 PM. We have to ______ to the conference center.”
(A) go
(B) come
(C) going
(D) arriving
6 “I will ______ to the coffee shop across the street to meet Mr. Smith.”
(A) to go
(B) come
(C) go
(D) going
7 “My team leader is not here. She is ______ to a meeting with the director.”
(A) coming
(B) going
(C) go
(D) leaving
8 “Are you ______ to the presentation on the second floor with me?”
(A) going
(B) coming
(C) go
(D) to go
9 “Let’s ______ to the lobby to wait for our important guests.”
(A) going
(B) come
(C) to go
(D) go
10 “I didn’t ______ to the morning meeting because I had to finish this report.”
(A) go
(B) come
(C) went
(D) going
11 “Our boss always ______ to the headquarters on Friday afternoons.”
(A) comes
(B) goes
(C) go
(D) going
12 “If anyone asks, please tell them that I am ______ to the bank.”
(A) coming
(B) go
(C) visiting
(D) going
13 “Do you want to ______ to the workshop in the other building with me?”
(A) go
(B) come
(C) going
(D) to go
14 “I have my car keys. I have to ______ to the airport to pick up the investor.”
(A) to go
(B) come
(C) go
(D) arriving
15 “The marketing team is ______ to a different city for the exhibition today.”
(A) going
(B) coming
(C) go
(D) goes
16 “I must ______ to the 5th floor for a quick update with the sales team.”
(A) come
(B) go
(C) to go
(D) going
17 “Don’t look for me at 3 PM because I am ______ to a client’s factory.”
(A) go
(B) coming
(C) going
(D) moving
18 “If the client calls, tell them I am already ______ to their office.”
(A) coming
(B) go
(C) left
(D) going
19 “We should ______ to the seminar early to get good seats in the front.”
(A) going
(B) go
(C) come
(D) to go
20 “I am grabbing my coat because I need to ______ to a meeting outside.”
(A) go
(B) come
(C) going
(D) leave
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (C) go
Why it is correct: “Need to” is followed by a base verb. You are moving away from your current location (the office) to a third location (the meeting room), so you must use “go”.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “come” is a Common Mistake caused by translating word-for-word from your native language. (B) “going” is a Structural Error after “to”. (D) “leave” is a Meaning Trap (we say “leave FOR the meeting room”, not “leave TO”).
2 (A) going
Why it is correct: Present continuous tense (am + V-ing). Moving away from the office requires “go”.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “coming” is a Common Mistake. (C) “go” is a Structural Error. (D) “arriving” is a Meaning Trap (we use “arrive at/in”, not “arrive to”).
3 (B) go
Why it is correct: The modal verb “must” is followed by a base verb without “to”.
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is the Common Mistake. (A) and (D) are Structural Errors.
4 (D) going
Why it is correct: Present continuous tense, describing movement away from the current shared space.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (A) and (C) are Structural Errors.
5 (A) go
Why it is correct: Moving from the office to the conference center (a third location).
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) “going” is a Structural Error after “have to”. (D) “arriving” is a Meaning Trap.
6 (C) go
Why it is correct: “Will” is followed by a base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (A) and (D) are Structural Errors.
7 (B) going
Why it is correct: The team leader is moving away from the office to a meeting.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (C) “go” is a Structural Error. (D) “leaving” is a Meaning Trap (we don’t say “leaving to a meeting”).
8 (A) going
Why it is correct: You are inviting a colleague to leave the current location and go to a third location (the second floor) with you.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “coming” is the Common Mistake (you only use “coming with me” if you are taking them to your own specific territory, but here both of you are leaving for a new, third place). (C) and (D) are Structural Errors.
9 (D) go
Why it is correct: The structure “Let’s” is followed by a base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (A) and (C) are Structural Errors.
10 (A) go
Why it is correct: Negative past tense “didn’t” is followed by a base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) “went” is a Structural Error (double past tense error). (D) “going” is a Structural Error.
11 (B) goes
Why it is correct: Third-person singular (Our boss) in the present simple tense.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “comes” is the Common Mistake. (C) and (D) are Structural Errors.
12 (D) going
Why it is correct: You are absent from the office, moving to the bank.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (B) “go” is a Structural Error. (C) “visiting” is a Meaning Trap (we do not use “visiting to”).
13 (A) go
Why it is correct: Traveling to a workshop in a different building (a third location).
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) and (D) are Structural Errors.
14 (C) go
Why it is correct: Moving to the airport (a third location).
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (A) “to go” is a Structural Error (after “have to”, we don’t add another “to”). (D) “arriving” is a Meaning Trap.
15 (A) going
Why it is correct: The marketing team is moving to a different city.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (C) and (D) are Structural Errors.
16 (B) go
Why it is correct: Leaving the current spot to go to the 5th floor.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) and (D) are Structural Errors.
17 (C) going
Why it is correct: Moving to a client’s factory.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (A) “go” is a Structural Error. (D) “moving” is a Meaning Trap (usually implies relocating your residence or business).
18 (D) going
Why it is correct: Reporting an ongoing action (moving to the client’s office). Note: If you were speaking directly to the client on the phone, you would say “I am coming.” But since you are telling your colleague (“tell them…”), the client’s office is a third location for both you and your colleague, so you must use “going”.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (B) and (C) are Structural Errors.
19 (B) go
Why it is correct: Giving advice to travel to a seminar (a third location).
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is the Common Mistake. (A) and (D) are Structural Errors.
20 (A) go
Why it is correct: Leaving the shared space to go outside.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) is a Structural Error. (D) “leave” is a Meaning Trap (“leave to a meeting” is grammatically incorrect).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- GO (Moving Away): When you are in the same space as the listener (e.g., standing in the office with colleagues) and you announce that you are leaving that space to travel to a third location (a meeting room, a cafe, a client’s office), you MUST use GO.
- The Translation Trap: In many languages, people say “I am coming to the meeting room” because they translate the concept of “arriving at a destination.” This is a classic A1 mistake. In English, you only use “Come” if you are moving TOWARDS the person listening to you. If you are moving away from them to go somewhere else, always use “Go”.