ていく and てくる in Japanese

In Brief

Attach いく or くる to a verb's て-form to give an action a direction. 〜ていく normally points away from a reference point or forward from now, while 〜てくる points toward a reference point or describes a development that has reached the present: 持っていく “take it there,” 持ってくる “bring it here,” and 寒くなってきた “it has gotten cold.”

Overview

Japanese uses the ordinary motion verbs 行く（いく）, “to go,” and 来る（くる）, “to come,” after another verb in the て-form. A て-form is a connecting form of a verb: 持つ becomes 持って, and 勉強する becomes 勉強して. In this construction, 行く and 来る may describe real movement, but they can also show the direction in which an event unfolds.

The choice depends on a reference point: the place, time, or viewpoint from which the speaker presents the event. 〜ていく leads away from that point; 〜てくる leads toward it. English often communicates the same distinction with “take” and “bring,” “go and” and “come and,” or phrases such as “from now on” and “up to now.” Japanese uses one flexible pair across all of these situations.

This B2 grammar point builds on the て-form. The forms themselves are short, but choosing between them requires attention to perspective. It is therefore better to learn the underlying image—away versus toward—than to memorize one English translation for each form.

How It Works

Basic formation

Pattern	Core direction	Typical interpretation
verb て-form + いく	away from the reference point	do something and go; take away; continue from now onward
verb て-form + くる	toward the reference point	do something and come; bring here; develop up to now

The final verb carries tense, politeness, and negation:

Form	Plain	Polite	Meaning
non-past	〜ていく / 〜てくる	〜ていきます / 〜てきます	goes/comes; will continue/reach here
past	〜ていった / 〜てきた	〜ていきました / 〜てきました	went away/came; continued or developed to a past endpoint
negative	〜ていかない / 〜てこない	〜ていきません / 〜てきません	does not go/continue; does not come/develop

来る is irregular. After the て-form, its readings follow the usual conjugation: 〜てくる, 〜てきた, and 〜てこない.

1. An action plus physical movement

When the two actions retain their literal meanings, the first verb says what someone does and 行く or 来る says where the person then moves.

• 飲み物を買っていく。 — “I’ll buy drinks and take them along.” The person buys them before going onward.
• 飲み物を買ってくる。 — “I’ll go buy drinks and come back.” The return toward the current place is built into the expression.

With portable objects, this often corresponds to English take versus bring:

• 傘を持っていく — take an umbrella along/there
• 傘を持ってくる — bring an umbrella here

The reference point need not be where the speaker physically stands. A speaker can adopt the listener’s location or the location of a narrated scene. For example, 明日の会議に資料を持ってきてください means “Please bring the documents to tomorrow’s meeting.” The meeting is treated as the destination even though it is in the future.

2. Movement occurring in a particular manner

The first verb can describe how someone or something moves:

• 子どもが走ってきた。 — “A child came running.”
• 鳥が飛んでいった。 — “The bird flew away.”
• 犬がこちらへ泳いできた。 — “The dog swam toward us.”

Here, 走る, 飛ぶ, or 泳ぐ supplies the manner, while 来る or 行く establishes the direction relative to the viewpoint.

3. Change through time

The same spatial image extends naturally to time. Imagine the present as the speaker’s current position.

• 〜てくる looks back at a process that has approached or reached now.
• 〜ていく looks ahead at a process that will continue away from now into the future.

寒くなってきた means that the weather changed over a period and has now become cold. これから寒くなっていく means that it will become progressively colder from this point onward.

This pattern commonly appears with change verbs and expressions such as なる “become,” 増える “increase,” 減る “decrease,” 変わる “change,” and 慣れる “get used to.” It can describe a gradual trend, but not every example must be slow: the essential idea is the direction of development relative to the chosen time.

4. An action continuing across time

With an intentional or repeated activity, 〜ていく often means “continue doing from here onward”:

• これからも日本語を勉強していきます。 — “I’ll continue studying Japanese from now on.”

Conversely, 〜てくる can summarize what has been done repeatedly or continuously up to the present:

• 十年間、この問題を研究してきました。 — “I have studied this problem for ten years.”

English often uses the present perfect in the second type. Do not conclude that 〜てきた is simply a Japanese present perfect, however: its special contribution is the image of an activity extending toward the current viewpoint.

5. An event entering perception or awareness

〜てくる can present a sound, feeling, smell, idea, or ability as emerging and reaching the experiencer:

• 音楽が聞こえてきた。 — “Music started to become audible.”
• だんだん分かってきた。 — “I’m gradually beginning to understand.”
• いい匂いがしてきた。 — “A pleasant smell has begun to reach me.”

This is not necessarily physical “coming.” It frames the experience as newly arriving in the speaker’s awareness.

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
持って行きます。	I’ll take it there.	The object moves away from the reference point.
持って来ました。	I brought it here.	The object arrived at the reference point.
コンビニで水を買ってきます。	I’ll go buy some water at the convenience store and come back.	A common “go, do, and return” use.
明日はお弁当を作っていきます。	I’ll make a packed lunch and take it with me tomorrow.	The speaker prepares it, then goes onward.
猫が庭から入ってきた。	A cat came in from the garden.	Movement toward the scene’s viewpoint.
電車が遠くへ走っていった。	The train traveled off into the distance.	Movement away.
寒くなってきました。	It has gotten cold.	A change reaching the present.
これから気温が下がっていくでしょう。	The temperature will probably continue to fall from now on.	A future trend.
この町の人口は少しずつ増えてきた。	This town’s population has gradually increased.	Development up to now.
今後、働き方はさらに変わっていく。	Ways of working will continue to change in the future.	Development from now onward.
これからも勉強していきます。	I’ll continue studying from now on.	Deliberate continuation.
私たちは何度も話し合ってきた。	We have discussed it many times.	Repeated action leading up to now.
雨の音が聞こえてきた。	I began to hear the sound of rain.	The sound enters awareness.
練習を続ければ、少しずつ話せるようになっていく。	If you keep practicing, you’ll gradually become able to speak.	Ability develops into the future.

Common Mistakes

Treating いく as “go” and くる as “come” without choosing a viewpoint

• Wrong: ここに資料を持っていってください。
• Right: ここに資料を持ってきてください。
• Why: ここ, “here,” is the destination and reference point, so the documents move toward it. Use 持ってくる, “bring,” rather than 持っていく, “take away.”

Using 〜ていく for a change that has reached the present

• Wrong: 最近、寒くなっていった。
• Right: 最近、寒くなってきた。
• Why: 最近 and the intended meaning look at a change leading up to now. 〜てきた gives that backward-looking perspective. 〜ていった can be correct in a past narrative when a change proceeds away from a past viewpoint, but it does not normally describe the current result this way.

Using 〜てくる for a plan extending from now onward

• Wrong: これからも毎日練習してきます。
• Right: これからも毎日練習していきます。
• Why: これから, “from now on,” points into the future, so 〜ていく is the natural choice. 練習してきます would more readily suggest going to practice and returning, depending on context.

Confusing 買ってくる with simply coming while shopping

• Wrong interpretation: 買ってきます means only “I come while buying.”
• Right interpretation: 買ってきます usually means “I’ll go buy it and come back.”
• Why: With errands, 〜てくる frequently packages a short trip, the task, and the return. English may need several verbs to express what Japanese says compactly.

Assuming every 〜てきた describes physical movement

• Wrong interpretation: 日本語が分かってきた means “Japanese came while being understood.”
• Right interpretation: 日本語が分かってきた means “I’m beginning to understand Japanese” or “My Japanese comprehension has developed.”
• Why: The development has approached the speaker’s present state. There is no literal traveler.

Usage Notes

In writing, kanji and hiragana choices can hint at how independently 行く and 来る are being used. 持って行く and 持って来る clearly describe physical taking and bringing, so the kanji spellings are common. When the verbs function more like grammatical helpers expressing temporal development, 〜ていく and 〜てくる are often written in hiragana: 変わっていく, 分かってくる. This is a useful tendency, not a rigid meaning test; both spelling practices occur.

Japanese frequently lets the context establish the reference point. Words such as ここ “here,” そちら “where you are/that way,” こちら “this way,” これから “from now on,” 今まで “until now,” and だんだん “gradually” make the intended direction easier to identify. When no place is stated, ask whose location or moment organizes the scene.

Politeness affects the final element: 持っていきます and 持ってきます are polite, while 持っていく and 持ってくる are plain. In a request, 〜てきてください can mean either “please come after doing…” or “please bring…,” according to the first verb: 書類を持ってきてください means “Please bring the documents,” while 受付で聞いてきてください means “Please go ask at reception and come back.”

Casual speech sometimes contracts 〜ていく to 〜てく, especially in phrases such as やってく “keep doing/go do.” Because 〜てく can be hard to recognize and may be confused by learners with 〜てくる, it is safest to produce the full forms until the surrounding context and colloquial rhythm are familiar.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

The reference point can move inside a narrative

In a story, the “here” and “now” need not belong to the real-life speaker. A narrator can anchor the scene at a character’s home or at a past event:

• 駅で待っていると、友達が走ってきた。 — “As I was waiting at the station, my friend came running.”

The station in that remembered scene is the center toward which the friend moves. Later, the narrator might say 友達はまた走っていった, “My friend ran off again,” shifting the direction away from that same center.

Temporal perspective works similarly. 景気は次第に悪くなっていった means “The economy gradually worsened.” Although the process is in the past, 〜ていった follows it forward and away from an earlier past point. By contrast, 景気は次第に悪くなってきた views the worsening as a process that reaches now. Therefore, “past equals てきた” and “future equals ていく” are useful first approximations, not absolute tense rules.

〜ている, 〜てきた, and 〜ていく emphasize different things

Japanese	English	Focus
人口が増えている。	The population is increasing.	The current ongoing state or process.
人口が増えてきた。	The population has increased / has been increasing.	The process leading up to the viewpoint.
人口が増えていく。	The population will continue to increase.	The process continuing beyond the viewpoint.

The forms can combine: 増えてきている presents a development that began earlier and is currently continuing. Such combinations are useful when the speaker wants both the path to the present and the present ongoing state, but the simpler form is often enough.

A deliberate stance toward future action

In formal speech, interviews, and reflective writing, 〜ていく can do more than mark duration. It can frame a policy, commitment, or approach as something the speaker intends to pursue:

• 今後もサービスを改善していきます。 — “We will continue to improve the service.”

This sounds forward-looking and sustained. A simple 改善します merely announces that improvement will occur; 改善していきます presents it as an ongoing course of action. Because this phrasing is common in organizational language, translating every instance as “go and improve” would miss its discourse function.

Psychological emergence with 〜てくる

Expressions such as 腹が立ってきた “I’m starting to get angry,” 自信が出てきた “I’m beginning to gain confidence,” and 思い出してきた “I’m starting to remember” portray a state becoming present to the experiencer. Depending on context, English may use “start to,” “come to,” “increasingly,” or a perfect construction. The common Japanese image is that the state has moved into the speaker’s current experience.

Practice Tips

1. Draw a timeline and a location arrow. Put the reference point in the center. For 持っていく and 持ってくる, draw an arrow away from or toward a place. For 変わっていく and 変わってくる, replace the place with “now.” This makes one principle cover both physical and temporal uses.
2. Build pairs instead of isolated sentences. Contrast 寒くなってきた with これから寒くなっていく, and 荷物を持っていく with 荷物を持ってくる. Say what changed in the viewpoint each time.
3. Listen for time markers. In natural Japanese, note what appears with 今まで, 最近, これまで, これから, and 今後. Predict 〜てくる or 〜ていく before hearing the end, then check whether the speaker chose a different narrative perspective.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: て-Form — provides the connecting verb form required before いく and くる.