行く

Japanese

Etymology

From Old Japanese, from Proto-Japonic *iku. Cognate with Okinawan 行(い)ちゅん (ichun), Miyako 行きぃ (iksï).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) いく (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

• (Tokyo) ゆく (Heiban – )
• IPA^(key):

Verb

行(い)く or 行(ゆ)く • (iku or yuku) intransitive godan (stem 行(い)き (iki), past 行(い)った (itta))

1. to go; to come to one's place

   彼(かれ)は京(きょう)都(と)に行(い)っていたようだ。

   Kare wa Kyōto ni itte ita yō da.

   He seems to have been to Kyoto.

   泳(およ)ぎに行(い)ってもいい？

   Oyogi ni itte mo ii?

   May I go swimming?

   今(いま)行(い)くよ！

   Ima iku yo!

   I'm coming!

   もうこんな時(じ)間(かん)！そろそろ行(い)かなきゃ。

   Mō konna jikan! Sorosoro ikanakya.

   Will you look at the time! I've got to get going.

2. to (a letter) be delivered
3. to depart

   ゆく年(とし)くる年(とし)。

   Yuku toshi kuru toshi.

   A year departing and a year coming.

4. to rely (on a method)

   これで行(い)くしかない。

   Kore de iku shika nai.

   The only option is to go with this.

5. (年が～ (年が～)) to age

   彼(かれ)は年(とし)が行(い)っている。

   Kare wa toshi ga itte iru.

   He is old.

6. (うまく～) to go well

   そう毎(まい)度(ど)物(もの)事(ごと)はうまく行(い)かない。

   Sō maido monogoto wa umaku ikanai.

   Not every time do things go well.

7. (auxiliary, usually spelled in hiragana) After the て-form of a verb:
   1. to continue to do something; to go on to do something
   2. to gradually do something
8. イく: (slang) to have an orgasm, to come, to cum
   • 2009, Ichiro Suzuki in an interview after the World Baseball Classic

     気持(きも)ち良(よ)かったっすねえ。ほぼイキかけました。

     Kimochi yokatta ssu nē. Hobo ikikakemashita.

     It felt great. I almost came.

Usage notes

• In English, the verbs go and come in the senses of physical motion are often used in relation to the listener. If Alice calls Bob and asks him if he is on his way to her party, he would say, "I'm coming."

However, in Japanese, the verbs 行く (iku, “to go”) and 来る (kuru, “to come”) are used in relation to the speaker. If Alice calls Bob and asks him if he is on his way to her party, he would instead say, 「行きます」 (Ikimasu, "I'm going").

• The more common form, いく (iku), has a slightly irregular conjugation than a regular godan verb. Its perfective and conjunctive constructions are 行(い)った (itta) and 行(い)って (itte) respectively, instead of the expected いいた (iita) and いいて (iite). The literary form, ゆく (yuku), conjugates regularly as 行(ゆ)いた (yuita) and 行(ゆ)いて (yuite).
• As an auxiliary, it is more commonly spelled in hiragana. It can also be colloquially shortened to てく (-teku).

Conjugation

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “to come”): 来(く)る (kuru)

See also

• いらっしゃる (irassharu) (honorific)
• 参(まい)る (mairu) (humble)

References