Word Usage – How to Know When to Use ‘Go Home’ or ‘Come Home’?

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Ok, this website says "Come is used to show movement toward the speaker or the person being spoken to"

& "Go is used to show movement away from the speaker or the person being spoken to"

Let say Tom is in his office & his mom is at home.

It's 5 PM & Tom says to his peers in his office "I go home now". The movement is away from the speaker "Tom" & the listeners "his peers".

Now, we can have 1 conversation when his mom calls to him:

Conversation 1:

Mom: Can you come home soon? (we use "come" because the movement is toward the speaker "Mom")

Tom: I come home soon. (we use "come" because the movement is toward the listener "Mom")

Conversation 2:

Mom: Can you go home soon? (we use "go" because the movement is away from the listener "Tom")

Tom: I go home soon. (we use "go" because the movement is away from the speaker "Tom")

You can say the Conversation 2 is wrong but I do apply the above guideline when creating the conversation 2.

Then the question is that the above guideline could have some shortcomings.

Best Answer

Like so often, someone has created a "rule" to make things easier, but they only succeeded in making things more complicated.

One could adapt the "rule" to "when the distance between the speaker and listener will get smaller, use come. Otherwise use go".

In general, you go away and you come towards something.

Tom tells his colleagues he's going home, he is leaving the office.

In the conversation between his mom and Tom, assuming mom's at home, Tom's movement towards home means they will get closer, so he's coming towards her, coming home. It doesn't matter who starts the conversation.

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