# 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 之く

### 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])
* IPA: [ikɯ̟]
* Tokyo pitch accent of conjugated forms of 「行く」
Source: Online Japanese Accent Dictionary :
| Stem forms ||||
| 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])
* IPA: [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:
** to continue to do something; to go on to do something
** 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

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 |
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)

### See also

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

### References

* 1 2 Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
* 1 2 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
* 1 2 Kindaichi, Kyōsuke et al., editors (1997), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN