It seems that there are some differences go/come and 行く/来る……but what can it be?
行く, is it equivalent to ”To go”?
行く (iku)is often translated into “to go” in English.
But there are some different nuances between them.
When we say 行く (iku) in Japanese, it expresses that :
the subject of the sentence moves from where he/she is to somewhere else
So, for example, when your parents tell you “at the table!”, you may reply “I’m coming!” but in Japanese, we say,
いま行きます。
ima iki masu.
I’m coming.
Because the person who said is the speaker.
And the speaker moves from, for example, his room to the dining room.
That’s why we must use 行きます (iki masu) here.
来る, is it equivalent to ”To come”?
来る (kuru) in Japanese is often translated into “to come“ in English.
Basically yes, but来る (kuru) in Japanese means :
One moves from somewhere to where the speaker’s view of the sentence is now
So two possibilities have to be thought :
1- The subject is the speaker of the sentence :
日本へ来ました。
nihon e ki mashita.
I came to Japan.
Here, the view of the speaker moved from where he was to where he is now (Japan).
2- The subject is not the speaker of the sentence :
友だちは日本へ来ました。
tomoachi wa nihon e ki mashita.
My friend also came to Japan.
In this sentence, the subject is a friend of the speaker and as 来る (kuru) is used, we can understand that the view of the speaker is in Japan.
So, if we say,
友だちは日本へ行きます。
tomodachi wa nihon e iki masu.
My friend goes to Japan.
The subject is a friend of the speaker and the view of the speaker is at where he is now and since his friend moves from they are now to Japan, 行く (iku) is used.
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