に行く / にいく【にいく / にいく】

に行く says you go somewhere to do something: "go and see", "go to buy". The purpose is a verb in the ます-stem – the polite form without ます – and it takes に. 行く is also written in kana, いく.

The ます-stem of 見ます is 見, of 買います is 買い, of します is し. The dictionary form does not go here.

• × 見るに行く → 見に行く

With a destination

The place takes に or へ, so a sentence can have two に: one for where, one for what for. Place first is the usual order.

に来る and に帰る

The same purpose phrase goes with くる来る and かえる帰る.

Usage notes

These go beyond a verb before に行く.

する-nouns

A noun that takes する, such as かいもの買い物, べんきょう勉強 or りょこう旅行, can drop the します and take に straight away.

The tense goes on 行く

The ます-stem never changes. Past, negative and polite are all on 行く: みにいきました見に行きました, みにいかない見に行かない.