〜ていく vs 〜てくる: Direction in Time and Space

You already know how to build the て-form. But once you attach いく or くる to it, something interesting happens — the verb gains a sense of direction. Not just physical direction (walking toward or away), but also direction in time: whether a change is moving away from the present moment or arriving at it. That distinction is exactly what separates 〜ていく and 〜てくる, and mastering it will make your Japanese sound dramatically more natural.

〜ていく: Moving Away From the Speaker or From Now

〜ていく is formed by taking the て-form of a verb and adding いく (to go). The core idea is always the same: whatever is happening is moving away — away from where you are standing, or away from the current moment into the future.

Formation

て-form + いく (written as ていく in one word when used as a grammar pattern)

Spatial use: action moving away from you

In spatial terms, 〜ていく describes someone or something leaving your location. Think of yourself as the fixed reference point. Anything departing from that point uses ていく.

• 彼(かれ)は手を振(ふ)っていった。
  He waved and walked away.
• 鳥(とり)が空(そら)に飛(と)んでいった。
  A bird flew off into the sky.
• 子どもたちは走っていった。
  The children ran off.

Temporal use: action continuing into the future

In temporal terms, 〜ていく describes a change or action that starts now and continues forward in time — moving away from this moment into the future. This is where English speakers often get confused, because English doesn’t have a single grammatical structure for this idea.

• これからも日本語を勉強していきます。
  I will continue studying Japanese from now on.
• 気候(きこう)はこれからも変わっていくだろう。
  The climate will probably keep changing.
• 人口(じんこう)は減(へ)っていくと思います。
  I think the population will keep declining.

Yuka

💡 Think of ていく like an arrow pointing to the right. You are standing at the center, and the action → moves away from you — into the distance or into the future.

〜てくる: Coming Closer to the Speaker or to Now

〜てくる is formed by taking the て-form of a verb and adding くる (to come). The core idea is the mirror image of ていく: whatever is happening is moving toward you — toward where you are, or toward the present moment.

Formation

て-form + くる (written as てくる in one word when used as a grammar pattern)

Spatial use: action moving toward you

In spatial terms, 〜てくる describes someone or something arriving at your location. You are still the fixed reference point — but now the action comes to you.

• 友達(ともだち)が走ってきた。
  My friend came running (over here).
• 雨(あめ)が降(ふ)ってきた。
  It has started to rain. (the rain came to us)
• 猫(ねこ)が近(ちか)づいてきた。
  The cat came closer (toward me).

Temporal use: change that has arrived at the present

In temporal terms, 〜てくる (especially 〜てきた in the past tense) describes a change that started in the past and has arrived at this moment. You can feel it now because it has accumulated up to the present.

• 日本語が少(すこ)しわかってきた。
  Japanese has started to make sense to me. (a gradual change has arrived here)
• 気温(きおん)が上がってきた。
  The temperature has been rising. (we can feel it now)
• この仕事(しごと)に慣(な)れてきた。
  I’ve been getting used to this job.

Rei

〜てきた is one of those patterns that sounds very natural in Japanese but is hard to translate directly. When you feel that something has changed up to this moment, use てきた. The change has “arrived” at the present.

Spatial vs Temporal Use: How to Tell Them Apart

One of the trickiest things about 〜ていく and 〜てくる is that the same pattern can describe physical movement or a change over time. The good news: the logic is identical in both cases. You just need to ask yourself which direction the action flows relative to you, the speaker, right now.

The same verb, two meanings

Look at how 変(か)わる (to change) works with both patterns:

• 世界(せかい)は変わっていく。
  The world will keep changing. (looking forward — change moves away into the future)
• 世界は変わってきた。
  The world has been changing. (looking back — change has accumulated up to now)

Both sentences are about change over time. The difference is your vantage point: are you looking forward (ていく) or back at how far you’ve come (てきた)?

A note on 雨が降ってきた

This is a classic example that shows both spatial and temporal meaning fused into one. 雨が降ってきた literally means “rain came falling” — spatially, the rain has arrived at your location. But the temporal nuance is also present: the rain started somewhere before the present moment and is now here. That overlap is completely natural in Japanese, and you don’t need to analyze which meaning applies — just use 〜てくる when the change arrives at you.

Side-by-Side Examples

Compare the two patterns using the same verbs to feel the contrast directly.

Sentence pairs in context

Spatial pair:

• 彼女はコンビニへ飲み物を買いに行ってきた。
  She went to the convenience store and came back with a drink. (she returned to your location)
• 彼女はコンビニへ飲み物を買いに行っていった。
  She went off to the convenience store to buy a drink. (she departed from your location)

Temporal pair:

• 日本語の勉強を続けていきます。
  I will continue studying Japanese. (from now forward)
• 日本語の力(ちから)がついてきました。
  My Japanese ability has been building up. (arrived at this level)

Yuka

持っていく vs 持ってくる is one of the most practical contrasts to memorize. お弁当を持っていく = I’ll take my lunch box (and go). お弁当を持ってくる = I’ll bring my lunch box (here). The only question: are you going away, or coming here?

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Using ていく when describing arrival

Because English “go” can sometimes describe motion toward the speaker in casual speech (“I’ll go grab it”), learners sometimes use ていく when they mean てくる.

• ❌ 友達が走っていった。 (if you mean: my friend came running over to me)
  ✅ 友達が走ってきた。 — My friend came running over.

Mistake 2: Forgetting てくる for gradual change

Many learners know the spatial use of てくる but miss the temporal use entirely. When you notice that something has gradually changed and it has now “arrived” at the present, use 〜てきた — not just a plain past tense.

• ❌ 最近日本語がわかった。 (sounds like a one-time event)
  ✅ 最近日本語がわかってきた。 — I’ve been starting to understand Japanese recently. (gradual arrival)

Mistake 3: Confusing 持っていく and 持ってくる

This is extremely common in practical conversation. The fix: always ask yourself whether the action ends up here (use くる) or ends up somewhere else (use いく).

• ❌ 傘(かさ)を持ってくるのを忘れた。 (wrong if you were leaving the house — you are going away, not bringing it here)
  ✅ 傘を持っていくのを忘れた。 — I forgot to take my umbrella (with me, when going out).

Note: 持ってくるのを忘れた is correct in a different situation — for example, if a colleague forgot to bring a document to your office. The direction is always relative to the speaker’s location. Context determines which to use.

Mistake 4: Using plain いく/くる instead of ていく/てくる for ongoing change

Plain いく and くる express simple movement. The て-form + いく/くる pattern adds the nuance of continuation or gradual change. Don’t drop the て-form when you mean to express a process.

• ❌ これから寒くいきます。 (grammatically awkward)
  ✅ これから寒くなっていきます。 — It will keep getting colder from now on.

Decision Flowchart

Use this flowchart whenever you are not sure which pattern to use.

You want to use ていく or てくる. Ask yourself:

Step 1: Is this about PHYSICAL MOVEMENT or a CHANGE OVER TIME?

  ┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
  │    Is someone/something moving?     │
  └─────────────────────────────────────┘
         │                    │
    PHYSICAL                CHANGE
    MOVEMENT               OVER TIME
         │                    │
         ▼                    ▼

  Is the movement           Is the change moving
  AWAY from you?            FORWARD (into future)?
         │                         │
    YES  │  NO               YES   │   NO
         │                         │
         ▼    ▼                    ▼       ▼
     ていく  てくる            ていく    てきた

Summary:
  ・Away from speaker / into the future     → ていく
  ・Toward speaker / arrived at the present → てくる / てきた

Quick test:
  "walked away from me"       → 歩いていった     ✓ ていく
  "came walking toward me"    → 歩いてきた      ✓ てくる
  "will keep studying"        → 勉強していく     ✓ ていく
  "has been getting warmer"   → 暖かくなってきた  ✓ てくる

Quick Quiz

Fill in the blank with ていく (or its past form いった) or てくる (or its past form てきた). Try all five before checking the answers below.

Questions

1. 猫が窓(まど)から飛んで（　　）。
   The cat flew out of the window (and away).
2. 最近、日本語の発音(はつおん)が上手になって（　　）。
   My Japanese pronunciation has been getting better recently.
3. 明日の遠足(えんそく)にお弁当を持って（　　）つもりです。
   I plan to take my lunch box on tomorrow’s field trip.
4. 急(きゅう)に雪(ゆき)が降って（　　）。
   It suddenly started snowing (the snow came to us).
5. この町(まち)は少しずつ変わって（　　）と思う。
   I think this town will keep slowly changing (from now on).

Answers

1. 飛んでいった — The cat flew away (departed from your location).
2. 上手になってきた — A gradual improvement has arrived at the present.
3. 持っていく — You are taking the lunch box away with you (to another location).
4. 降ってきた — The snow arrived at your location (from above / from before).
5. 変わっていく — Looking forward; change will continue into the future.

How did you do? Share your score in the comments below, or ask about any question that surprised you! 👇

Keep Learning

〜ていく and 〜てくる build on your understanding of the て-form and connect naturally to other auxiliary verb patterns. Explore these related articles next:

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