ていく・
てくる is toward where you are, and ていく is away. That covers moving (bring, take), errands (go and get) and time (up to now, from now on).
away from here
The bird flew away toward the sea.
go and come back
I'll just go and buy some drinks at the convenience store.
up to now
The rain has been getting heavier and heavier.
How to form it
Verb in the て-form + いく／くる
They change like 行く and 来る: いきます, いった, いかない; きます, きた, こない. In conversation ていく often shrinks to てく.
The idea
Stand where you are. くる is movement toward you, and いく is movement away. With time, "where you are" is now.
| てくる: toward you | ていく: away from you | |
|---|---|---|
| Moving | 走ってくる come running | 走っていく run off |
| An errand | 買ってくる go, buy it, come back | 買っていく buy it, then go on |
| A change | 増えてきた has grown, up to now | 増えていく will grow, from now on |
One more for てくる: something starts and reaches you. 降ってきた is "it's started to rain".
Moving: toward you or away
The first verb says how, and いく or くる says which way. This is how Japanese says "bring" and "take": hold it and come, hold it and go. With a person or an animal the first verb is 連れて.
持ってくるbring (a thing)
Please bring your dictionary tomorrow.
持っていくtake (a thing)
I'm taking a camera on the trip.
連れてくるbring (a person, an animal)
My father brought someone from work home.
連れていくtake (a person, an animal)
I take the dog for a walk every morning.
帰ってくるcome back, get home
My mother gets home around six.
"Bring" to their place is 持っていく
English "come" and "bring" can follow the person you are talking to: "I'll come over and bring a cake." Japanese sticks to where you are. When you go to someone, it is 行く and 持っていく.
Do you want to come over on Saturday?
Yeah, I'll come. I'll bring a cake.
An errand: go, do it, come back
てくる is what you say when you pop out to do something. English mentions the going: "I'll go and buy some." Japanese mentions the coming back.
We're out of coffee.
Then I'll go and buy some at a store nearby.
I'm just going to the post office. I'll be right back.
行ってきます by itself is what you call out when you leave home. The answer is いってらっしゃい.
I went to Hokkaido last week.
How you report a trip once you are back.
I'll go and buy some drinks.
You go, buy them and come back here.
I'll buy some drinks and take them along.
You buy them, then go on to where you are headed.
Neither one needs an errand: you do it, then come or go. English often says "before I came" or "before you go".
I already had lunch before I came.
Won't you have some tea before you go?
A change: up to now, from now on
てきた looks back from now at how things have been going. ていく looks ahead.
This town has gradually changed over the past ten years.
From then up to now.
This town will probably continue to change from now on.
From now on.
It is the same with something you keep doing.
I have been drawing every day since I was a child.
We will continue protecting this forest.
Without てくる, a change is simply done.
It's getting cold, isn't it?
Colder than before, and still on its way.
It has started: 降ってきた
てくる is also what you say when something reaches you that wasn't there a moment ago: rain, a sound, a feeling. English says "it's started to" or "I'm getting".
Oh, it's started to rain.
Past in form, but the rain is falling now. It has arrived.
I'm getting hungry.
Music came drifting from far away.
Close neighbours
〜に行くN5
Going in order to do something. It doesn't say you will come back.
I'm going to buy some bread.
ているN5
The everyday "have been doing". 働いてきました looks back over the whole stretch, as you would in a speech or an interview.
I have been working at this company for three years.
くなる・になるN5
The change and nothing more. てくる or ていく goes after なる when the change is still on its way: 上手になってきた, "getting good".
You've gotten good at Japanese, haven't you?
Words that often come before the change and say how it goes: だんだん little by little, どんどん fast, ますます more than it already was.
The rain has been getting heavier by the minute.
始めるN4
降り始めた only reports that the rain began. 降ってきた is what you say when the first drops reach you.
It began to rain in the evening.
Check yourself
1Which one fits?
ここで
Choose an answer to see why.
2You are on the phone with a friend who has invited you over.
今から
Choose an answer to see why.
3What does this mean?
最近、
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
In conversation
Are you taking an umbrella?
Calls and messages to you
When someone phones or writes to you, てくる marks you as the one it comes to.
My mother called me in the evening.
In a story
The point you look from doesn't have to be now. In a story it can be a moment in the past, and ていった follows what happened from there.
From that day on, the two of them slowly came to trust each other more and more.
Kana or kanji
When someone really goes or comes, you will also see kanji: 持って行く, 走って来る. For a change over time it is nearly always kana.
More sentences
The teacher came into the classroom from the hallway.
The cat carried the fish off in its mouth.
I'll pick up some drinks on my way back.
The temperature has been rising little by little since this morning.
The number of people working online will probably keep growing.
Over the past few years, this town has been getting more and more foreign tourists.