41.7 Using 嚟 lai4 / lei4 (‘to come’) to Indicate Purposes

We can use the word 嚟 lai4 ('to come’, also pronounced as lei4) to indicate the purpose of an action in the following sentence structure. The action in the first verb phrase usually involves getting, bringing or handling an item (e.g., 買 maai5 ‘to buy’, 拎 ling1 ‘to take’ and cooking verbs). This item will be used to complete the purpose in the second verb phrase. 嚟 lai4 here functions like the English word to (as in I want to buy a fish to boil soup). In grammar, this structure is a serial verb construction.

We can omit the item in the first verb phrase if it is obvious in the context.

If the first verb phrase and the second verb phrase have the same object, we will omit the object in the second verb phrase.

We can also use this structure to indicate the cooking method for something. We can put the cooking verb in the first verb phrase and the verb 食 sik6 (‘to eat’) in the second verb phrase. We often omit the item.

We can add a modal verb (e.g., 想 soeng2 ‘to want to’, 要 jiu3 ‘to need to’, 會 wui5 ‘will’) or 諗住 nam2 zyu6 (‘to plan to’) before the first verb phrase.