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にいく (niiku) Meaning Japanese Grammar - To Go

Author Sandro Maglione for article 'にいく (niiku) Meaning Japanese Grammar - To Go'

Sandro Maglione

The expression にいく (niiku) means to go, to go for the purpose of going.

にいく is used to express the purpose for going to a certain place, in particular the action one intends to do after having going there.

In this post we learn more about meaning of にいく, how it is formed, and when にいく is used through real example sentences.


How にいく is formed

The expression にいく is formed by:

  • Particle に: indicates "destination", the "place" towards which one moves
  • ()く: Godan verb which means to go

にいく is applied to a verb conjugated in the conjunctive form (れん)(よう)(けい) (the same as the masu form):

Verb[Base]++いく

Let's see an example of conjugation with the verb ()to fish:

()
()
()
()いく

()りに()く。

Go fishing.

The expression にいく can also be found in the kanji form に()く.

How and when to use にいく

()く means going for the purpose of. This expression is used when someone goes to a place to perform a certain action, indicated before にいく.

()みに()く。

Go drinking.

In this example we find the verb ()to drink, which when conjugated becomes ()み, and applied to the expression にいく:

()
()
()
()にいく

The sentence indicates that the purpose of going (()く) is to perform the action of drinking (()む).

コンビニへ(みず)()いに()きます。

I'm going to the convenience store to buy some water.

にいく and にきた

An expression similar to にいく is に()た. に()た uses the verb ()to come instead of the verb ()to go.

()た is used when the action of going has already been done.

So when you are already in the place you went to for a specific purpose, then you use に()た instead of に()く.

()りに()た。

Came to fish.


Examples of にいく

(きょう)()(とも)(だち)()いに()きます。

I will go to Kyoto to meet my friends.

(うみ)(およ)ぎに()く。

I am going to swim in the sea.

どこへ()(もの)()きますか。

Where do you go shopping?