Natalie in Canada asked: Is it okay to say, “Please, could you come by to my place for a minute?”
Answer
The sentence above would sound better if you left out “to” and said it this way instead:
Please, could you come by my place for a minute?, or
Could you please come by my place for a minute?
Come by is a phrasal verb that has two meanings, described below. It does not take the preposition to, except as part of a verbal infinitive, as in this example:
Please come by to say hello.
The two meaningsof the phrasal verb come by
1) Make a visit Come by means “to make a visit to someone," as in these examples:
Why don’t you come by for dinner? (=come to my house for dinner)
Please come by my office after class. (=come to my office)
Come by sometime. (=visit me sometime)
2) Get or acquire Come by (something) means “to get or acquire,” as in these examples:
I asked him how he came by the money, but he wouldn't tell me.
A good job is hard to come by. (=it's hard to get a good job)
(Note that come by + car/train/plane, etc., which means "to arrive by a specific kind of transportation," is different. In this case, by is not part of a phrasal verb; it is the head of a prepositional phrase with the noun that follows.)
