行く

Japanese

Kanji in this term
行
い Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
往く逝く (rare)

Kanji in this term
行
ゆ Grade: 2
kun'yomi

Alternative spellings
往く適く

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 [ìkú] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [ikɯ̟]

Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「行く」

Stem forms
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary
Terminal (終止形) Attributive (連体形)	行く	いく	`[ìkú]`
Imperative (命令形)	行け	いけ	`[ìké]`
Key constructions
Passive	行かれる	いかれる	`[ìkárérú]`
Causative	行かせる	いかせる	`[ìkásérú]`
Potential	行ける	いける	`[ìkérú]`
Volitional	行こう	いこー	`[ìkóꜜò]`
Negative	行かない	いかない	`[ìkánáí]`
Negative perfective	行かなかった	いかなかった	`[ìkánáꜜkàttà]`
Formal	行きます	いきます	`[ìkímáꜜsù]`
Perfective	行った	いった	`[ìttá]`
Conjunctive	行って	いって	`[ìtté]`
Hypothetical conditional	行けば	いけば	`[ìkéꜜbà]`

(Tokyo) ゆく [yùkú] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]^[3]
IPA^(key): [jɯ̟kɯ̟]

Verb

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

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.
to (a letter) be delivered
to depart
ゆく年(とし)くる年(とし)。
Yuku toshi kuru toshi.
A year departing and a year coming.
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.
(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.
(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.
(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
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

Conjugation of "行く" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	行か	いかゆか	ika yuka
Continuative (連用形)	行き	いきゆき	iki yuki
Terminal (終止形)	行く	いくゆく	iku yuku
Attributive (連体形)	行く	いくゆく	iku yuku
Hypothetical (仮定形)	行け	いけゆけ	ike yuke
Imperative (命令形)	行け	いけゆけ	ike yuke
Key constructions
Passive	行かれる	いかれるゆかれる	ikareru yukareru
Causative	行かせる行かす	いかせるゆかせるいかすゆかす	ikaseru yukaseru ikasu yukasu
Potential	行ける	いけるゆける	ikeru yukeru
Volitional	行こう	いこうゆこう	ikō yukō
Negative	行かない	いかないゆかない	ikanai yukanai
Negative continuative	行かず	いかずゆかず	ikazu yukazu
Formal	行きます	いきますゆきます	ikimasu yukimasu
Perfective	行った行いた	いったゆいた	itta yuita
Conjunctive	行って行いて	いってゆいて	itte yuite
Hypothetical conditional	行けば	いけばゆけば	ikeba yukeba

Classical conjugation of "行く" (カ行四段活用, see Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Irrealis (未然形)	行か	ゆか	yuka
Continuative (連用形)	行き	ゆき	yuki
Terminal (終止形)	行く	ゆく	yuku
Attributive (連体形)	行く	ゆく	yuku
Realis (已然形)	行け	ゆけ	yuke
Imperative (命令形)	行け	ゆけ	yuke
Key constructions
Negative	行かず	ゆかず	yukazu
Contrasting conjunction	行けど	ゆけど	yukedo
Causal conjunction	行けば	ゆけば	yukeba
Conditional conjunction	行かば	ゆかば	yukaba
Past tense (firsthand knowledge)	行きき	ゆきき	yukiki
Past tense (secondhand knowledge)	行きけり	ゆきけり	yukikeri
Perfect tense (conscious action)	行きつ	ゆきつ	yukitu
Perfect tense (natural event)	行きぬ	ゆきぬ	yukinu
Perfect-continuative tense	行けり行きたり	ゆけりゆきたり	yukeri yukitari
Volitional	行かむ	ゆかむ	yukamu

Antonyms

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

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[DJR-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

[NHK-2] 2.0 ^2.1 NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (1998), NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 [NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN

[SMK5-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

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行く

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