Meaning & use
come thru
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Meanings
phraseintransitiveinformal
To do what you promised or what others need you to do, especially in a difficult situation.
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'for' plus the person helped: she came through for us.
Patterns
- come through for someone
- come through with something
- come through on something
My brother really came through for me when I moved house.
The team came through with the money they had promised.
He always comes through when we need extra help.
phraseintransitiveinformal
To arrive or be received, especially a message, call, or result.
Grammar: No object; used about messages, signals, or documents reaching someone.
Patterns
- something comes through
- come through to someone
Your email finally came thru this morning.
The radio signal came through clearly after the storm.
Her test results came through on Friday.
phraseintransitiveinformal
To survive a dangerous or difficult experience successfully.
Grammar: No object; often followed by 'it' or a description of the trouble.
Patterns
- come through something
- come through it
She came thru the operation much stronger than expected.
Only two of the climbers came through the storm unharmed.
It was a hard year, but we came through it together.
Common combinations
- come through for someone
- He came through for his sister when she lost her job.
- come through with something
- They came through with a loan at the last minute.
- come through a difficult time
- Our family came through a difficult time last winter.
- come through clearly
- The speaker's voice came through clearly on the phone.
- come through on a promise
- The company came through on its promise to refund customers.
Synonyms and how they differ
- deliver
- Informal and often about results; 'deliver' focuses on producing what was expected, while 'come through' stresses being reliable in a crisis.
- pull through
- Very close for surviving illness or danger, but 'pull through' is used mostly about health, not about promises.
- arrive
- Fits messages and mail, but it is neutral and does not suggest a struggle or delay.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: come thru or through? come thru or throw?
come thru vs through
'Through' is the standard spelling and can be a preposition or adverb; 'thru' is only an informal variant and looks out of place in formal writing.
come thru vs throw
'Throw' means to send something through the air with your hand, and it sounds similar to 'thru' but has a completely different meaning.
Practice
Which sentence would be acceptable in a formal school essay?
Choose one answer.
Formal writing uses the standard spelling 'through', and the phrase is 'come through for someone'. 'Thru' is informal, and 'come through with' needs a thing, not a person.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “come thru”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.