Hi,
I'm reading a story titled 曺冲称象 and I came across the sentence "可以找一个秤来". What does 来 mean here? :)
If I add the sentences before and after, it reads like this: "要知道大象有多重，可以找一个秤来，一称就知道了。"
先谢谢
Hi John!
In this sentence, "找" is a verb and "来" is the result of the action "找。" It literally means: to find something and make it closer to us.
You can use 来/去 after a verb. For example, 拿来: to get something (and make it closer to the speaker); 拿去：to take something (and make it further from the speaker). 【小王拿来一本书，问我有没有看过。】In this sentence, 书 is closer to me through 小王's action "拿"。 OR【这本书我不要了，你拿去吧。】In this sentence, 书 will be further from me if 你拿去了。
Another example could be, 借来: to borrow something (and make it closer to the speaker), 借去 to borrow something (and make it further to the speaker）。Two example sentences would be: 【我借来了三本书，你看看有没有你喜欢的。】【那本英文书不在我这儿，被小王借去了。】
Hope it answered your question!
Hope you enjoy chinese
Wow thank you for this precious explanation Shuo :) you broke it down for me in such a great manner! Now I finally understand the function of 来 and 去 after a verb :)
多谢！
