Attach いく or くる to a te-form and you weld direction onto an action. 傘を持っていく is "take an umbrella along (away with me)"; パンを買ってくる is "go buy bread and come back." The two auxiliaries are the plain verbs 行く "to go" and 来る "to come" — so everything hinges on a single question English usually leaves implicit: which way is the movement relative to where the speaker is standing? This page covers the physical motion sense; the separate, metaphorical "change over time" sense (だんだん寒くなってくる) lives on 〜ていく／〜てくる: change over time.
The form
Take the te-form and add いく or くる. As auxiliaries they're usually written in hiragana. くる is irregular — きます, きた, こない, こよう — while いく is a regular godan verb (いきます, いった, いかない).
| Verb |
|
|
|---|---|---|
| 持つ (to hold / carry) | 持っていく (take along) | 持ってくる (bring) |
| 買う (to buy) | 買っていく (buy and take on) | 買ってくる (go buy and return) |
| 歩く (to walk) | 歩いていく (go on foot) | 歩いてくる (come on foot) |
| 走る (to run) | 走っていく (run off) | 走ってくる (come running) |
〜ていく — the action, then movement away
〜ていく splits into two readings, both pointing away from the speaker:
(a) Do X, then go — the action happens first, then you leave, carrying its result onward.
雨降りそうだから、傘を持っていくね。
ame furisō da kara, kasa o motte iku ne
Looks like rain, so I'll take an umbrella (with me).
時間ないから、朝ごはんは食べて行く。
jikan nai kara, asagohan wa tabete iku
I'm short on time, so I'll eat breakfast and then head out.
(b) Go while doing X — X is the manner of the going.
駅まで遠くないし、歩いていこう。
eki made tōkunai shi, aruite ikō
The station isn't far, so let's walk (there).
子供たちは手を振って、走っていった。
kodomo-tachi wa te o futte, hashitte itta
The kids waved and ran off.
〜てくる — the action, with movement toward you (and often back)
〜てくる points toward the speaker's location, and this is where it gets rich. Three readings:
(a) Come while doing X — manner of coming toward you.
向こうから犬が全速力で走ってきた。
mukō kara inu ga zensokuryoku de hashitte kita
A dog came running toward me at full speed.
(b) Bring toward you — 持ってくる "bring (a thing)," 連れてくる "bring (a person)."
次の会議、資料を持ってきてください。
tsugi no kaigi, shiryō o motte kite kudasai
Please bring the documents to the next meeting.
今度、彼女を家に連れてくるよ。
kondo, kanojo o ie ni tsurete kuru yo
Next time I'll bring my girlfriend over to the house.
(c) The round trip — go do X and come back. This is the one English speakers underuse. Because くる anchors the endpoint at the speaker, 買ってくる naturally means "go, buy it, and return here."
ちょっとパン買ってくる。すぐ戻るね。
chotto pan katte kuru. sugu modoru ne
I'm going to grab some bread — be right back.
図書館でこの本、借りてくるね。
toshokan de kono hon, karite kuru ne
I'll go borrow this book from the library (and come back with it).
The deixis: everything is anchored to the speaker
The whole system rests on one principle: the direction is measured from where the speaker is. いく = motion away from the speaker's vantage point; くる = motion that returns to it. English "bring" and "take" do something similar, but English can shift the anchor to the listener ("I'll bring it to you"), whereas Japanese stays locked to the speaker.
Compare the same purchase from two vantage points:
ケーキ、買ってくるよ。
kēki, katte kuru yo
I'll go buy a cake and bring it back (here, where we both are).
友達の家に、ケーキ買っていくよ。
tomodachi no ie ni, kēki katte iku yo
I'll buy a cake and take it on to my friend's place.
Both are "buy a cake," but 買ってくる curves the motion back to the speaker, while 買っていく carries it onward, away. Choosing the wrong one isn't a small slip — it tells your listener the opposite thing about where the cake ends up.
持っていく vs 持ってくる (take vs bring)
This pair is the textbook stress point. Map them to the anchor, not to the English verb:
- 持っていく = carry something away from here → English "take."
- 持ってくる = carry something to here → English "bring."
And for people, use 連れる, not 持つ: 連れていく "take (a person) along," 連れてくる "bring (a person) over." 持っていく a person would be treating them like luggage.
明日、傘持ってくるの忘れないでね。
ashita, kasa motte kuru no wasurenai de ne
Don't forget to bring your umbrella tomorrow.
Register
〜ていく／〜てくる are everyday and register-neutral, at home in casual chat and polite speech alike (持っていきます, 持ってきます). Note the polite of くる is きます (来ます), so 持ってきます, not 持ってくります.
Common mistakes
❌ ちょっとパン買っていく。すぐ戻るね。
chotto pan katte iku. sugu modoru ne
Contradictory — 買っていく sends the motion away, yet 'be right back' needs the round-trip くる.
✅ ちょっとパン買ってくる。すぐ戻るね。
chotto pan katte kuru. sugu modoru ne
I'll go grab some bread — be right back.
❌ 友達を家に持ってくる。
tomodachi o ie ni motte kuru
Incorrect — 持つ is for objects; a person you 連れる.
✅ 友達を家に連れてくる。
tomodachi o ie ni tsurete kuru
I'll bring my friend over to the house.
❌ 資料を持ってくりました。
shiryō o motte kurimashita
Incorrect — くる is irregular; its polite past is きました, not くりました.
✅ 資料を持ってきました。
shiryō o motte kimashita
I've brought the documents.
❌ 傘を持って行くください。
kasa o motte iku kudasai
Incorrect — the auxiliary must be in te-form before ください: 持っていってください.
✅ 傘を持っていってください。
kasa o motte itte kudasai
Please take an umbrella with you.
Key takeaways
- te-form + いく／くる attaches physical direction to an action.
- いく = motion away from the speaker (do X and go; go doing X). くる = motion toward the speaker.
- くる very often means a round trip — go do X and come back — because its endpoint is anchored where the speaker stands (ちょっと買ってくる = "be right back with it").
- Choose by the speaker's vantage point, not by English "bring/take" intuition: 買ってくる returns here, 買っていく goes onward.
- People use 連れていく／連れてくる; objects use 持っていく／持ってくる. And remember くる is irregular: 持ってきます, not 持ってくります.
- This page is physical motion only; for the "gradually becoming …" sense, see 〜ていく／〜てくる: change over time.
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- 〜ていく／〜てくる: Change Over TimeN3 — How 〜ていく projects a change forward into the future and 〜てくる traces one up to the present — the go/come metaphor mapped straight onto time.
- 〜てくる: Onset of Sensations & ChangeN3 — A special 〜てくる that marks the emergence of a sensation, perception, or spontaneous change as it comes on and reaches you — 雨が降ってきた, お腹が空いてきた, 見えてきた.
- The Irregulars: する → して, 来る → 来てN4 — The te-form of Japanese's only two irregular verbs — する becomes して and 来る becomes 来て (read きて) — plus the compounds built on each.
- te + Auxiliary Verbs: The Helper FamilyN3 — A map of the 補助動詞 family — a te-form plus a grammaticalized helper (おく, しまう, みる, いく, くる, いる, ある) whose literal meaning has faded into pure aspect or attitude.