what is the function of 来 in this sentence?

[dbredesen]

Hi all,

I saw this example on dict.cn recently, and I have a grammar question:

她花了很多钱来买书。:

1. She spent a lot of money on books.

What is the function of 来 (lai2) in the above sentence? It doesn't indicate an action (to come), and it isn't used as a directional marker either. A Chinese friend said it adds "smoothness", but I was hoping for a more detailed explanation.

Thanks for any input you can give me on this.

--d

[skylee]

It does indicate an action - "She's spent a lot of money to buy books".

My favourite dictionary lists this usage of 來 -

8. 用在動詞前，表示要做某件事：我來寫信 / 讓他來幫助你。

It is used before a verb to indicate the intention to do something.

The Lin Yutang Dictionary has this explanation -> http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/cgi-bin/agrep-lindict?query=%a8%d3&category=wholerecord (the coding is big5)

Special formations.

(3) Adv. conj., in order to, so that, to: 唱個歌來湊熱鬧 sing us a song (in order) to make the party more lively (equiv. 以 in LL); 開口來說話 open one's mind and (to) talk.

I think the "mind" in the last example is a typo. It should be mouth instead.