I went to your office (come and go)

[nyota]

I went to your office yesterday, but you weren't in.

Why not "came"? The movement was towards the hearer or more precisely where he was expected to be.

 

[emsr2d2]

I went to your office yesterday, but you weren't in.

Why not "came"? The movement was towards the hearer or more precisely where he was expected to be.

If the speaker is actually in that office when he is speaking, then he would say "I came to your office [ie I came here] yesterday, but you weren't in."

If the speaker is in any other location, then he would say "I went to your office yesterday but you weren't in."

 

[nyota]

If the speaker is actually in that office when he is speaking, then he would say "I came to your office [ie I came here] yesterday, but you weren't in."

If the speaker is in any other location, then he would say "I went to your office yesterday but you weren't in."

I thought that when the movement's towards the hearer (or the speaker) we use 'come'. E.g.
I will come to you if you like. Speaker ==> Hearer
Will you come to see me too? Hearer ==> Speaker
You'll come to me. Hearer ==> Speaker

Does it work differently in the past? It seems that in the past it's not only about the speaker-hearer movement but also about the speaker's positioning.

 

[5jj]

If the speaker is actually in that office when he is speaking, then he would say "I came to your office [ie I came here] yesterday, but you weren't in."

If the speaker is in any other location, then he would say "I went to your office yesterday but you weren't in."

I think it's a litle more complex than that.

If the speaker an/.or listener are in the listener's office at the moment of speaking, then the speaker is likely to say 'came'.
If neither is in the listener's office, thn the speaker is likely to say 'went'.

However, there is no 'rule' about this - it's a matter of personal perception. So, if I mentally associate the listener with always being in their office, I might well use 'came' even if neither of us is there at the moment of speaking. This explains why we sometimes hear people use the word we would not normally expect.

 

[nyota]

I think it's a litle more complex than that.

If the speaker an/.or listener are in the listener's office at the moment of speaking, then the speaker is likely to say 'came'.
If neither is in the listener's office, thn the speaker is likely to say 'went'.

However, there is no 'rule' about this - it's a matter of personal perception. So, if I mentally associate the listener with always being in their office, I might well use 'came' even if neither of us is there at the moment of speaking. This explains why we sometimes hear people use the word we would not normally expect.

And that's how vagueness makes it clearer. Thanks