Grammar › Core Patterns
〜てくる / 〜ていく — a change moving toward now, or away from now
Direction of change over time: 寒くなってきた — it's gotten (and is getting) cold
て-form + くる frames a change as approaching the present moment (from the past up to now, or literally moving toward the speaker); て-form + いく frames a change as continuing on from now into the future (or literally moving away from the speaker). The literal “come/go” meaning and the abstract “ongoing change” meaning both exist side by side.
How to form it
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
| て-form + くる: change up to now | 寒くなってきた — it has gotten cold (and stayed that way) |
| て-form + いく: change from now on | これからもっと暑くなっていくだろう — it'll probably keep getting hotter from here |
Example sentences
| Japanese | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 空が急に暗くなってきた。 | そらがきゅうにくらくなってきた。 soragakyuunikurakunattekita。 | The sky suddenly got dark. |
| 日本語が少しずつ上手になっていく。 | にほんごがすこしずつじょうずになっていく。 nihongogasukoshizutsujouzuninatteiku。 | My Japanese is gradually getting better (and will keep improving). |
| 雨が降ってきたので、傘を持ってきました。 | あめがふってきたので、かさをもってきました。 amegafuttekitanode、kasawomottekimashita。 | It started raining, so I brought an umbrella. |
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Watch out
Don't confuse this with the literal 来る/行く (“to come/go”) — 持ってくる (bring, literally “carry + come”) is one common overlap point where both the literal and the grammatical meaning are true at once.