てくる
てくる
auxiliary
... and come; go and ... (and come back); has become ...; has started to ...
1.
... and come; ... toward the speaker
Attached to the te-form of a verb, くる keeps its sense of movement toward where the speaker is: 持ってくる (to bring something), 連れてくる (to bring someone along), 帰ってくる (to come back home). The verb before て says how the coming happens.
2.
go and ...; do ... and come back
With an action done elsewhere, 〜てくる means going to do it and returning: 買ってくる (to go and buy), 見てくる (to go and have a look). This is the くる of 行ってきます, said when leaving the house.
3.
has become ...; has started to ... (change up to now)
With verbs of change, 〜てくる describes a change that has developed up to the present, or something that has just begun to appear: 暖かくなってきた (it has gotten warmer), 分かってきた (I have begun to understand), 雨が降ってきた (it has started raining). Its mirror image is 〜ていく, which carries a change on from now.
Formed from the te-form of a verb plus くる. The helper conjugates like 来る: 〜てきます, 〜てきた, 〜てこない.
Usage
- Sense 1 pairs with 〜ていく: 持ってくる (bring) vs. 持っていく (take).
- Sense 3 looks back from now: 増えてきた (has been increasing), 慣れてきた (have gotten used to it), 眠くなってきた (I'm getting sleepy).
Watch out
- A change that continues from now on takes 〜ていく: これから増えていく (it will keep increasing) vs. 増えてきた (it has been increasing).
Writing
- Usually written in kana as a helper; the kanji form 来る is common when the movement is literal (帰って来る).
Related words
- ていく: go on ...ing; change from now on
- 来る: to come