What is the difference between "come to someone" and "come up to someone"?
Native speaker’s answer
Rebecca
"Came up to" is usually used to mean approached or walked up to. We generally use it in contexts where one person is stationary (sitting or standing) and another person, on foot, approaches, or walks up to them. "Come to" is much more general phrase which basically just means to arrive at location. Ex: He came to my house. This means he went inside, maybe visited me, or hung around together. Ex: He came up to my house. That means he stood outside by the wall or fence. Say, he wanted to check the paint on the wall, or read the address plate. He definitely didn't enter the house, just stood outside, next to it. In most context the two will be interchangeable, you come to a person when you come up to them - that's two different phrasings of the same action, with slightly different connotations but in some contexts they will be different - "coming to" will mean getting there for practical purposes, be it visiting, talking, using, shopping. Coming up to means stopping next to it.
