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In this post we’re going to look at phrasal verbs with come.

Come in!

Let’s start with examples of things that may look like phrasal verbs, but aren’t. You can combine come with all sorts of prepositions, and they’re often not phrasal verbs. Instead, they’re just regular old verbs followed by prepositions, and their meaning is just the meaning of the basic verb plus the direction or motion or whatever is expressed by the preposition.

• Come in! The door is open!
• Where does the new professor come from? Doesn’t he come from Venezuela?
• We leave for Italy tomorrow, and we come back in two weeks.
• I tripped as I came down the stairs because someone left a pair of shoes there.
• Come up to the apartment and have a drink with me.

If you know the meaning of the verb come, and the meaning of the preposition in, from, down, and so on, you can understand exactly what these examples mean. Phrasal verbs look like this, but one of the things that make a phrasal verb a phrasal verb is that the basic meaning is changed, often quite a bit. Compare:

• I came up with the groceries. (NOT phrasal: I literally walked up the stairs carrying the groceries.)
• I came up with a great new idea. (Phrasal: I created or thought of a new idea, very little to do with COMING or UP.)

So now let’s look at some real phrasal verbs with come.

Something has come up.

Come up can be a literal prepositional verb, as in come up(stairs). But come up also means to happen, especially something unplanned.

• Something’s come up at the office, and I won’t be able to leave until later.
• She can’t make it to dinner tomorrow? Has something come up?
• Even if Dan makes plans with you, something always comes up last minute, and he breaks them.

Where did you come up with that idea?

If you come up with (an idea, a plan, a belief, a solution, etc.) you think of it, you create it, you invent it.

• Cynthia is really creative. She’s always coming up with great ideas.
• Have you come up with any good solutions for this problem?
• We lost power in the snowstorm, but Bob came up with the idea of cooking on the woodburning stove.  

I came across a really cool book.

If you come across something, you find it, often when you’re not looking for it.

• I was cleaning the basement and I came across the baseball glove I had as a kid.
• She was shopping for a new sweater and came across a really nice jacket.
• While I was researching my homework I came across a lot of great recipes online!

If you come across as, you give an impression. That impression can be good, bad, accurate, or inaccurate.

• John comes across as quiet and shy, but once you get to know him he’s very funny.
• Sam comes across as a know-it-all, and that’s exactly what he’s like.
• Patricia always comes across as confident and intelligent. I would never get into an argument with her.

You’re coming off as a jerk.

To come off is just a prepositional verb: The button is coming off my shirt. But to come off as menas something very similar to come across as, only it’s usually negative. You may come across as a good person, but you only come off as a bad person.

• If you don’t stop arguing all the time you’re going to come off as a nasty person.
• Frank comes off as a bully. No one really wants to be around him.
• Your friend came off as a bit of a clown at the party because he drank too much.

Come over at six.

If you invite someone to come over, you’re inviting them to visit your home. Come over has a casual, social feel.

• Some friends came over last night, and we watched a movie.
• What time are Alex and Eric coming over?
• We’re coming over in a few minutes. Do you need us to pick anything up on the way?

How did everything come out?

Come out has two meanings. It can mean to end or finish in a certain state or condition.

• The hurricane was really destructive, but we came out okay. We only had some minor damage.
• The fire destroyed a lot of homes in our neighborhood, but somehow we came out fine.
• This is a really difficult time, but I think everyone will come out stronger when it’s over.

Come out also means to tell people that you’re gay, or trans, or anything else that you weren’t sharing with other people. It comes from the idiom “come out of the closet,” which originally only referred to gay people. But now come out (as) is used much more broadly, often humorously.

• When Ben came out to his friends, they all said that they’d known for years.
• One of my colleagues has just come out as trans so we’re taking her out to dinner to show our support.
• Greg’s family is very religious, and he hasn’t come out as an atheist to them yet.

I think I’m coming down with something.

If you’re coming down with a cold, you’re getting a cold, you’re just beginning to feel sick.

• I need to cancel our plans to go out. I’ve come down with a cold.
• You’ve been coughing and sneezing. Is it allergies, or are you coming down with something?
• Wow, I’m really coming down with a headache. Do you have any aspirin?

It all comes down to trust.

If X comes down to Y, X can be explained in the most essential or simplest way by Y.

• Marriage comes down to trust and compromise.
• Getting a promotion comes down to working hard and being dependable.
• Our weekend plans come down to the weather. If it snows, we can’t go anywhere.

How did this problem come about?

To come about means to start to exist, to come into being.

• How did social media come about? Exactly when and how did it start?
• No one is sure how human language came about, but there are many theories.
• This whole problem came about because you refused to listen to my advice!

Are you coming on to me?

If you come on to a person, you show sexual, or at least romantic, interest in them.

• Larry spent the entire party coming on to a woman he met, but she wasn’t interested.
• Stop coming on to him! Don’t you see the wedding ring on his finger?
• You think your boss is coming on to you? You should talk to HR.

He recently came into some money.

If you come into something – usually money or something of value – you get or receive it, for example from a parent or relative who has died and left it to you in a will.

• Yolanda’s grandfather died and left her an inheritance, so she’s come into some money.
• Paul always jokes that his dad is far too healthy, so he won’t be coming into any money any time soon.
• Sue’s parents died last year, and she came into some land.

The whole thing is coming apart.

To come apart means to break into smaller pieces. It can be used literally, but it’s also used figuratively very often.

• The iceberg is coming apart as it moves into warmer waters.
• Thankfully most meteors come apart long before they reach the Earth’s surface.
• Their entire marriage came apart after Tim was caught cheating.

I just came through a really bad relationship.

To come through means to stop experiencing something difficult, to reach the end of a challenging time, often with a sense of starting something new and better. In this sense it’s similar to one of the meanings of come out.

• The town came through the wildfires with a lot of damage.
• Our relationship is coming through a challenging time, but we’re communicating very well.
• The country has just come through a recession, so people are still cautious.

You really came through for me!

If you come through for someone, that means that you are successful in doing something for them. If you come through for someone with something, you successfully provide them with something.

• Mary always comes through for her friends.
• Bob went to every store in town, but he’s finally come through for me with the last ingredient I needed for this recipe!
• Rita did her best, but she couldn’t come through with a place for us to stay for free.

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