Coming/going around.

[Ashraful Haque]

Imagine there are two door in a room. If you exit one you'd have to go around the corners and walk in a circle to get to the other door. In this context do we say:
1) "He's coming around."


2) If we walk from in front of the driver's door of a car all the way over in front of the passenger's door. Is it going all the way around the car?

I don't know how well I was able to explain my problem but I tried my best. Sorry for the bizarre question.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Imagine there are two doors in a room. If you exit one you'd have to go around the corners and walk in a circle to get to the other door.

If you walk in a circle, you end up where you started.

In this context do we say:

1) "He's coming around."

We don't know the context. So it depends:

- If you're standing behind door #2, then he's coming to you. So you could say "He's coming around."

- But if you're somewhere else, that would be wrong. Instead, you could say, "He's going around" or "He's walking around."

2) If we walk from in front of the driver's door of a car around to the passenger's door. Is it going all the way around the car?

No, it's only halfway. If he gets out of the driver's door, goes around the front and back, and gets back in the same door, that's going all the way around.

I don't know how well I was able to explain my problem but I tried my best. Sorry for the bizarre question.

If the doors were at an outdoor market, it would be a bazaar question.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

If the doors were at an outdoor market, it would be a bazaar question.

Thank you. I understand 2 but still need help with 1.


As you can see in this picture there's a room called 'armory.' I've marked two entry points into the room 'A' and 'B.' It's a map from a game I play. If an enemy trying to get in through 'A' decides to get in through 'B' can I tell my friends that he's coming around to mean that he's going to come through door 'B?'

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thank you. I understand 2 but still need help with 1.

View attachment 3601
As you can see in this picture, there's a room called 'armory.' I've marked two entry points into the room 'A' and 'B.' It's a map from a game I play. If an enemy trying to get in through 'A' decides to get in through 'B', can I tell my friends that he's coming around, meaning that he's going to come through door 'B?'

Yes, if you're at door B.

If you're not, then he's not coming to you. He's going to door B.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Yes, if you're at door B.

If you're not, then he's not coming to you. He's going to door B.

So if I'm in 'armory' and not necessarily at the door can I say 'I think he's coming around' to warn my friends that he is going to come through B?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

So if I'm in 'armory' and not [STRIKE]necessarily[/STRIKE] at the door can I say 'I think he's coming around' to warn my friends that he is going to come through B?

Yes, IF your friends are at door B.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Yes, IF your friends are at door B.

Thank you so much. Let me try one more scenario. It actually happened today while I was playing the game. Me and one of my friends were in armory and I heard enemy footsteps near door 'A' they fired a few rounds and then they went away. Since there are only two entrances I said "be ready they are coming around."
Please note that none of us were at any of the doors. We were hiding behind the a couch.

Did I use coming around correctly here?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Thank you so much. Let me try one more scenario. It actually happened today while I was playing the game. One of my friends and I were in an armory, and I heard enemy footsteps near door A. They fired a few rounds and then they went away. Since there are only two entrances, I said, "Be ready. They are coming around."
Please note that none of us was at any of the doors. We were hiding behind a couch.

Did I use coming around correctly here?

Let's see if can aswer this one.

Hint: Were they coming to you or going somewhere else? (See posts 2, 4, and 6.)

 

[Ashraful Haque]

Let's see if can aswer this one.

Hint: Were they coming to you or going somewhere else? (See posts 2, 4, and 6.)

They objective of the game is to kill all the members of the other team within 3 minutes. Since they were hunting us and had to kill all of us before the time ran out, their only option was to either come through 'A' or 'B.'
They left 'A' so they had to come to use through 'B' otherwise they would lose the round. But you're question is actually making me feel like I should've said he's 'going around' even though he was going around to come to us through the other door. :-|

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

The objective of the game is to kill all the members of the other team within three minutes. Since they were hunting us and had to kill all of us before the time ran out, their only option was to either come through 'A' or 'B.'
They left 'A' so they had to come to us through 'B' otherwise they would lose the round. But you're question is actually making me feel like I should've said he's 'going around' even though he was going around to come to us through the other door. :-|

I think you're right.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

I think you're right.

Thanks a lot for the answer. So 'he's going around' is the right thing to say. But in what situation do we say 'he's coming around?'

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

1. If he's coming to you.

2. If he's going to someone you're talking to. Then you can say "He's coming to you" or "He's coming your way."

Again: Coming is this way. Going is that way. Examples:

- You want your dog to come to you. So you say "Come!" (#1)

- You're lonely. So you call up your sweetheart and say, "Hi! Want to come over tonight?" (#1)

- But your sweetheart has been taking rhumba lessons. So she says, "Can we go dancing instead?"

- You say, "Sounds good! Let's go!"

- She says, "Can you come here and get me?" (#1)

- You say, "Yes, I'll come get you right now. (#2)

- You go and get her, and you both go dancing.

 

[Ashraful Haque]

1. If he's coming to you.

2. If he's going to someone you're talking to. Then you can say "He's coming to you" or "He's coming your way."

Again: Coming is this way. Going is that way. Examples:

- You want your dog to come to you. So you say "Come!" (#1)

- You're lonely. So you call up your sweetheart and say, "Hi! Want to come over tonight?" (#1)

- But your sweetheart has been taking rhumba lessons. So she says, "Can we go dancing instead?"

- You say, "Sounds good! Let's go!"

- She says, "Can you come here and get me?" (#1)

- You say, "Yes, I'll come get you right now. (#2)

- You go and get her, and you both go dancing.

To be honest I feel like I'm bothering you guys with the same question over and over again. But I still need some clarification.

If someone's at the backdoor of my house I can say- "Come around through the front gate."
And someone might ask him where he's going and he might say- "I'm going around through the front gate."

Those are wrong, aren't they?

 

[emsr2d2]

To be honest I feel like I'm bothering you guys with the same question over and over again. But I still need some clarification.

If someone's at the backdoor of my house I can say- "Come around through the front gate."
And someone might ask him where he's going and he might say- "I'm going around through the front gate."

No, those don't work. You might say "Come round to the front of the house". Having said that, it's equally natural to say "Go round to the front of the house".

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . If someone's at the backdoor of my house, I can say: "Come around through the front gate."

Yes. It implies that you will go to the front to meet the person, and you will be there when he comes through the gate. So the person will be coming to you.

And someone might ask him where he's going[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif],[/FONT] and he might say: "I'm going around through the front gate."

Yes. That's where he's going.

Those are wrong, aren't they?

They are both right.

You might just set this question aside and pay attention to how people use come and go in conversation. For now, just remember that come is the opposite of go:

- Help! I need you! Come here!
- Ugh! You bother me! Go away!

 

[Ashraful Haque]

You might just set this question aside and pay attention to how people use come and go in conversation. For now, just remember that come is the opposite of go:

- Help! I need you! Come here!
- Ugh! You bother me! Go away!

I don't have any problem with come/go. The problem is the 'around' part. The game I play requires me to help my teammates and it's important to communicate with them to win it. I've provided a video of the game just to give you an idea. I just wanted to know how to use 'someone's going/coming around.'
From what I understand it's correct to say "I'm going around" to mean that I'm going in through the other door which is around the corner even though it's not all the way around the room.
And the same for "They're coming around" given that I'm inside the room when saying it.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I don't have any problem with come/go. The problem is the 'around' part. The game I play requires me to help my teammates and it's important to communicate with them to win it. I've provided a video of the game just to give you an idea. I just wanted to know how to use 'someone's going/coming around.'
From what I understand it's correct to say "I'm going around" to mean that I'm going in through the other door which is around the corner even though it's not all the way around the room.
And the same for "They're coming around" given that I'm inside the room when saying it.

For your purposes, no one will care whether you say "coming" or "going."

Coming is always toward. You can say "They're coming" if you mean:

- "They're coming toward you."
- "They're coming toward me."

Again, how far around something doesn't matter. It can be part way around or all the way around. Someone can be coming around toward you.

I can't make it clearer. Just listen to people talk. You'll get it.