- JLPT N4
~てくる ~ていく (has become will become)
NikoJLPT N4: ～てくる / ～ていく (has become / will become)
The ending ～てくる is attached to VERBS when expressing that some kind of change has occurred continually from the past up until now.
Conversely, ～ていく is attached to VERBS when expressing that some kind of change will continue to occur from now into the future.
Since in other contexts くる means "to come" and いく means "to go," I like to think of these like this:
- Te-form VERB ＋ come → has (continually) VERB-ed
- Te-form VERB ＋ go → will (continue to) VERB
You'll find that sentences with ～てくる often end up with English translations using the present perfect tense. For example, in the following sentence the verb "to get" is translated as "has gotten":
だんだん涼しくなってきましたね。
だんだん すずしくなってきました ね。
It has gradually gotten colder, hasn’t it?
～ていく, on the other hand, is often used with the でしょう／だろう of conjecture, which we've studied before:
これからだんだん涼しくなっていくだろうね。
これから だんだん すずしく なって いく だろう ね。
It will probably get gradually colder from now on, huh?
This grammar book of mine had an image in it that you might find helpful:
I edited the image a bit to show what the Japanese words mean.
👷 Construction 👷
Pretty straightforward rules here:
V て ＋ くる
V て ＋ いく
Well, all that's left to do now is to power through a handful of example sentences.
～てくる and ～ていく are used quite commonly, so I recommend that you take your time reading these...
ヨガを始めて体重が減ってきた。
ヨガ を はじめて たいじゅう が へってきた。
I’ve lost weight since I started yoga.
マレー語のリスニングが上達してきました。
マレーご の リスニング が じょうたつ してきました。
My listening skills for Malay have improved.
今月下旬から、雨の日が多くなっていくでしょう。
こんげつ げじゅん から、 あめ の ひ が おおくなっていく でしょう。
There will likely start to be more rainy days toward the end of this month.
テクノロジーの発展により、私達の生活は目まぐるしく変わっていくだろう。
テクノロジー の はってん により、 わたしたち の せいかつ は めまぐるしく かわっていく だろう。
Due to the development of technology, our lives will probably change so fast that we won’t be able to keep up.
貧富の差はますます広がっていくだろうと言われています。
ひんぷ の さ は ますます ひろがっていく だろう と いわれています。
It is said that wealth disparity is likely to increase more and more.
That's it for this one.
Don't forget to congratulate yourself for reading Japanese lessons.
Niko
