Come through means to survive something difficult (an illness, an operation, a crisis) or, for a visa, a loan or a permit, to arrive or be approved. In the first meaning, the result matters: a person or a company made it through the hard times. In the second, it is about a decision someone has waited a long time for: My visa came through.
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come through + illness/operation/crisis; come through (it) + stronger/unharmed; visa/loan/results + come through
- The nurses were wonderful, and my father came through the operation without any problems.
- Our loan finally came through, so we can start renovating the kitchen next month.
What changed
First versionOur small café overlived the pandemic and even hired two new cooks.
RevisionOur small café came through the pandemic and even hired two new cooks.
Overlive may look like a logical word for surviving a hard period, but modern English does not use it. For a café or a person that survived a difficult time, say came through. Survived also works.
Go through describes the difficult period itself, while it is happening: She's going through a tough time. Come through says that the person has survived it: She came through it stronger than before.
Your turn
We waited six weeks, and at last our visas ___, so we booked the flights.
Show the answer
came through — The visas took a long time and were finally approved, so it is came through. Came out is used for something that is released or becomes known to everyone: a book, a film, news. It does not fit a visa approval.
Write about a document or decision you waited a long time for: a visa, a loan, a work permit. Say how long you had to wait and what you did when it was approved.
My work permit came through after three months of waiting, and that same evening I booked a one-way ticket to Dublin.
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