WHAT IS DIFFERENT BETWEEN 行く and 来る

行く and 来る are Japanese words for "to go" and "to come." 行く indicates that the speaker is on the departure side of the movement, while 来る suggests the speaker is on the arrival side. They can also follow the て form of another verb to add a sense of direction.

The way you use 行く and 来る are mostly the same as their English counterparts. For example, imagine you and your friend are running to the platform to catch a train. To say "the train will come soon," you use 来る:

電車、もうすぐ来るよ。 (The train will come soon.)

But when you and your friend finally get to the platform, the train has already left. To say "the train is gone," you use 行く:

電車、行っちゃったね。(The train's gone, huh?)

You use 来る when the movement is toward your current location and 行く when it's away from your current location. Here, you're talking about your own movement, which will take you away from where you currently are, so you have to use 行く instead of 来る.

 

CONJUGATIONS

The verb 行く is a godan verb and the verb 来る is an irregular verb, so they conjugate differently. Here are some basic conjugations of the two verbs:

 

Present	行く	来くる
Present (Polite)	行きます	来きます
Past	行った	来きた
Past (Polite)	行きました	来きました
Negative	行かない	来こない
Negative (Polite)	行きません	来きません
Past	行かなかった	来こなかった
Past (Polite)	行きませんでした	来きませんでした

 

POLITENESS

The formal versions are exactly the same for both 行く and 来る. The respectful ways of saying 行く and 来る are いらっしゃる or おいでになる, while the humble way of saying 行く and 来る is 参まいる. These words are used in formal situations.
 

Plain	Honorific	Humble
行く	いらっしゃる おいでになる	参る
来る	いらっしゃる おいでになる	参る

 

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