How to Write 来 (lái) — Meaning “to come”

Imagine a person (the top dot and left-falling stroke) walking towards a tree (the 木 radical below). The two diagonal strokes at the bottom are like legs moving forward. This picture helps you remember that 来 means 'to come'.

The stroke order is: horizontal, dot, left-falling, horizontal, vertical, left-falling, right-falling. Make sure the top horizontal is short, the dot is placed above the left-falling stroke, and the two bottom diagonal strokes are balanced. A common mistake is to write the dot after the left-falling stroke or to make the top too large.

The key difference is at the top: 来 has a dot and a left-falling stroke, while 未 and 末 both have two horizontal lines. Also, 未 has a shorter top horizontal (meaning 'not yet'), and 末 has a longer top horizontal (meaning 'end'). Remember: 来's top is like a person arriving.

来 is a basic verb meaning 'to come', used for movement toward the speaker, like in '过来' (come over) and '回来' (come back). It also appears in words like '后来' (later). In daily life, you'll hear '来!' as a command to invite someone to come or to start an action.

Common words containing 来 include: 过来 (guò lái) — to come over; 回来 (huí lái) — To come back.; 后来 (hòu lái) — later; afterwards.