come in

high frequency – top 50 phrasal verbsGeneralBusinessAcademic

๐Ÿ”Š Pronunciation

/kสŒm ษชn/
Stress: primary stress on verb
particle often reduced in connected speech

๐Ÿ‘จโ€๐Ÿ‘ฉโ€๐Ÿ‘งโ€๐Ÿ‘ฆ Word Family

Word Class Forms
Verbs come in, comes in, coming in, came in
Nouns income
Adjectives incoming
Limited derivational forms compared to other phrasal verbs

๐Ÿ“ Phrasal Verb Structure

Base verb: comeParticle: in
Transitivity: both

๐Ÿ“– Meanings

Meaning 1

enter a building or room
Formal equivalent: enter

LITERAL

“Please come in and take a seat.”
“The cold air comes in through the window.”
“She came in through the back door.”

Meaning 2

arrive or become available
Formal equivalent: arrive

SEMI-LITERAL

“The new shipment comes in next week.”
“When does your train come in?”
“The exam results should come in tomorrow.”

Meaning 3

become involved in something
Formal equivalent: participate, join

ABSTRACT

“This is where our expertise comes in.”
“How does marketing come in to the plan?”
“That's where you come in.”

โš ๏ธ Separability Rules

Rule: INSEPARABLE

Pronoun Placement

โœ“ come in there
โŒ come it in

๐Ÿ’ก Think of it Like This

Movement from outside to inside a contained space
Memory aid: Visualize crossing a threshold into a room
Often used as invitation/welcome gesture in English-speaking cultures

๐Ÿ“ Usage Patterns

Grammatical Contexts

Imperative: “Come in!”
Continuous: “The tide is coming in.”
Perfect: “The mail has come in.”
Passive: “not applicable”
Modal: “You should come in now.”
Question: “When does the plane come in?”
Negative: “Don't come in yet.”

Common in:

invitationsarrivalsschedulesweather

โš ๏ธ Common Errors

โŒ Come the room inโ†’โœ“ Come in the room
Attempting to separate inseparable phrasal verb
Common for: Germanic languages

High impact

โŒ Come to inโ†’โœ“ Come in to
Confusion with preposition placement
โŒ Enter inโ†’โœ“ Come in
Redundant preposition with formal verb
โŒ Coming in to the roomโ†’โœ“ Coming into the room
Incorrect preposition choice
โŒ Come in the building insideโ†’โœ“ Come into the building
Redundant direction markers

๐Ÿ“Š Register & Alternatives

Formality: neutral

Single-verb alternatives

Formal: enter, arrive
Neutral: go inside
Informal: pop in, step in
Use phrasal verb: everyday conversation, informal writing
Use single verb: formal academic writing, legal documents

๐ŸŒ Etymology

Origin: Old English 'cuman' + directional particle 'in'