ていく vs てくる – The Difference between teiku and tekuru made simple

The Japanese verb 来くる means come and 行いく means go. In Japanese, these verbs come after other verbs in the て-form to represent a starting or ending point. Let’s take a closer look.

https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/

The Meaning of ていく vs てくる

Basically, you can think of ていく meaning from this point and てくる as up to this point.

これから毎日本を読んでいくつもりです
I intend on reading every day from now

去年から毎日本を読んできました
I have been reading every day since last year

The two sentences above perfectly illustrate the difference between ていく vs てくる. If you remember the difference between these two sentences then in most situations you should be fine.

行く vs 来る - The Difference between Iku and Kuru

The two Japanese words 行いく　and 来くる basically mean go and come in Japanese. In most situations, there...

Japanese Universe

There are situations though where either can be used. The basic difference is just that てくる feels more personal than ていく. Also, with てくる the emphasis is on the beginning of the process while ていく is on after the process starts.

今日から寒くなってくる
It is going to start becoming cold from today

今日から寒くなっていく
It is going to start becoming cold from today

Now you know how to use てくる and ていく in Japanese. If you want to learn more Japanese I reviewed a dictionary of grammar series which I personally recommend and use myself.

I also have several other posts on various topics on Japanese Universe if you are interested.

Resources

• てくる – Weblio
• ていく – Weblio