Go vs. Come – English Grammar Exercises for A1
You and your friends are sitting in a coffee shop discussing where to travel for the weekend. You suggest going to the zoo. Everyone is talking about moving from the current location (the cafe) to a new, different destination.
Choose the best word (A, B, C, or D) to complete the sentences.
1 Let’s ______ to the zoo this weekend!
(A) visit
(B) go
(C) come
(D) going
2 Do you want to ______ to the beach instead?
(A) come
(B) going
(C) go
(D) arrive
3 We always ______ to the same mall, so let’s try something new.
(A) go
(B) come
(C) explore
(D) goes
4 I will ______ to the ticket office tomorrow to buy our passes.
(A) leave
(B) come
(C) going
(D) go
5 I don’t want to ______ to the museum again. It’s boring.
(A) went
(B) enter
(C) go
(D) come
6 We should ______ to the national park early in the morning.
(A) arrive
(B) go
(C) come
(D) to go
7 If the weather is nice, we can ______ to the mountains.
(A) go
(B) move
(C) going
(D) come
8 What time are we ______ to the zoo on Saturday?
(A) go
(B) coming
(C) arriving
(D) going
9 We must ______ to the bus station by 8 AM to catch our ride.
(A) go
(B) reach
(C) come
(D) to go
10 Sarah wants to ______ to the aquarium because she loves fish.
(A) visit
(B) go
(C) going
(D) come
11 Why don’t we ______ to the new amusement park instead?
(A) depart
(B) come
(C) going
(D) go
12 Last year, we didn’t ______ anywhere for the holidays.
(A) come
(B) went
(C) go
(D) arriving
13 I need to ______ to my house first to pack my bag before our trip.
(A) go
(B) arrive
(C) come
(D) going
14 We are taking a train to ______ to the countryside.
(A) reach
(B) went
(C) go
(D) come
15 You can stay here at the cafe, but I will ______ to the travel agency right now.
(A) leave
(B) go
(C) come
(D) going
16 My brother is ______ to the zoo by bus, so we will meet him there.
(A) going
(B) moving
(C) coming
(D) go
17 It takes two hours to ______ to the safari park from this cafe.
(A) going
(B) come
(C) arrive
(D) go
18 If you are tired, you don’t have to ______ to the night market with them.
(A) come
(B) join
(C) go
(D) to go
19 We need a map because I don’t know how to ______ to the botanical garden.
(A) find
(B) go
(C) come
(D) going
20 Okay, it’s decided! We are ______ to the zoo this weekend!
(A) visiting
(B) coming
(C) go
(D) going
ANSWER KEY & EXPLANATIONS
1 (B) go
Why it is correct: “Let’s” is followed by a base verb. The zoo is a third location away from the coffee shop, so you use “go”.
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is a Common Mistake (translating directly from native languages without considering direction). (D) “going” is a Structural Error (cannot use V-ing after Let’s). (A) “visit” is a Meaning Trap (you say “visit the zoo”, not “visit to the zoo”).
2 (C) go
Why it is correct: The beach is a location away from where the speakers are currently sitting.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “come” is the Common Mistake. (B) “going” is a Structural Error (after “want to”). (D) “arrive” is a Meaning Trap (the correct preposition is “arrive at“, not “arrive to”).
3 (A) go
Why it is correct: Present simple for a habit. Moving to a different location requires “go”.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (D) “goes” is a Structural Error (the subject “we” takes the base verb). (C) “explore” is a Meaning Trap (does not take the preposition “to”).
4 (D) go
Why it is correct: “Will” is followed by a base verb to express a future plan moving to a third location.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) “going” is a Structural Error. (A) “leave” is a Meaning Trap (you “leave for the ticket office”, not “leave to”).
5 (C) go
Why it is correct: Negative preference “don’t want to” is followed by the base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (D) “come” is the Common Mistake. (A) “went” is a Structural Error. (B) “enter” is a Meaning Trap (saying “enter to” is grammatically incorrect).
6 (B) go
Why it is correct: Giving advice with the modal “should” + base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is the Common Mistake. (D) “to go” is a Structural Error. (A) “arrive” is a Meaning Trap (wrong preposition).
7 (A) go
Why it is correct: Movement to the mountains (away from the cafe).
Mistake Analysis: (D) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) “going” is a Structural Error. (B) “move” is a Meaning Trap (“move to the mountains” implies packing your furniture and living there permanently, not a weekend trip).
8 (D) going
Why it is correct: Present continuous (are we + V-ing) used for future arrangements.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (A) “go” is a Structural Error. (C) “arriving” is a Meaning Trap.
9 (A) go
Why it is correct: “Must” is followed by a base verb. The bus station is a third location.
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is the Common Mistake. (D) “to go” is a Structural Error. (B) “reach” is a Meaning Trap (you “reach the bus station”, no “to” is needed).
10 (B) go
Why it is correct: “Wants to” is followed by the base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (D) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) “going” is a Structural Error. (A) “visit” is a Meaning Trap.
11 (D) go
Why it is correct: “Why don’t we” is a suggestion structure followed by a base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (C) “going” is a Structural Error. (A) “depart” is a Meaning Trap (you “depart for” a place, not “depart to”).
12 (C) go
Why it is correct: “Didn’t” is followed by the base verb for a past negative action.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “come” is the Common Mistake. (B) “went” is a Structural Error (double past tense). (D) “arriving” is a Structural Error.
13 (A) go
Why it is correct: Moving from the cafe to your house (a location where the listener is not present).
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is the Common Mistake. (D) “going” is a Structural Error. (B) “arrive” is a Meaning Trap.
14 (C) go
Why it is correct: The infinitive of purpose “to go” shows the reason for taking the train.
Mistake Analysis: (D) “come” is the Common Mistake. (B) “went” is a Structural Error. (A) “reach” is a Meaning Trap.
15 (B) go
Why it is correct: The speaker is leaving the current shared location (the cafe) to travel elsewhere.
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is the Common Mistake. (D) “going” is a Structural Error. (A) “leave” is a Meaning Trap.
16 (A) going
Why it is correct: Present continuous for future plans. The brother is traveling to a third location independently.
Mistake Analysis: (C) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (D) “go” is a Structural Error. (B) “moving” is a Meaning Trap.
17 (D) go
Why it is correct: “It takes [time] to do something.”
Mistake Analysis: (B) “come” is the Common Mistake. (A) “going” is a Structural Error. (C) “arrive” is a Meaning Trap.
18 (C) go
Why it is correct: “Have to” is followed by a base verb to indicate travel to a third location.
Mistake Analysis: (A) “come” is the Common Mistake. (D) “to go” is a Structural Error (the prompt already has “to”). (B) “join” is a Meaning Trap (“join to the market” is incorrect).
19 (B) go
Why it is correct: “How to” is followed by a base verb.
Mistake Analysis: (C) “come” is the Common Mistake. (D) “going” is a Structural Error. (A) “find” is a Meaning Trap (you “find the garden”, not “find to the garden”).
20 (D) going
Why it is correct: Present continuous (We are + V-ing) used for a confirmed future plan. Both speaker and listener are leaving their current spot for a new destination.
Mistake Analysis: (B) “coming” is the Common Mistake. (C) “go” is a Structural Error. (A) “visiting” is a Meaning Trap (“visiting to” is wrong).
GRAMMAR POINTS TO REMEMBER
- GO (Moving Away): Use “go” when you and the person you are talking to are at a specific location (like a coffee shop) and you are talking about traveling to a completely different, third location (like the zoo, the beach, or the mountains). Because the destination is away from where you currently are, you must “go” there.
- COME (Moving Towards): You only use “come” when the movement is directed toward the current location of the speaker or the listener. If you are sitting at the cafe, you cannot “come to the zoo” because you are not currently at the zoo!
- Watch out for Meaning Traps: Verbs like visit, arrive, reach, and enter have similar meanings to “go”, but they use different grammar rules. For example, we say “arrive at the zoo” or “visit the zoo” (no preposition). When you see the preposition “to” in the sentence, “go” is almost always the correct choice for travel.