# なってくる and なっていく



## Dante404

I have these two sentences. 

空が明るくなってくる。

段々暑くなってくる。

I know that てくる in this sentences implies that something will continue to some definite future point.
My question is, has the action started in the present in these sentences? Or is the starting point in the future? Or are both interpretations correct and it only depends on the context?
For example, would you translate the first sentence as "The sky becomes brighter" (because in the present is already bright but it's getting brighter and brighter) or as "The sky will become brighter" (soon, in the very near future, but in the present this hasn't started to happen yet) ??

Or as I told before, both interpretations are valid and it depends on the context?

And the same applies to the second sentence (段々暑くなってくる)


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## tagoot

You can say “空が明るくなってくる” in both situations. It depends on the context. If you say, however, “空が もっと(or より)明るくなってくる”, it is already somewhat bright and it's getting even brighter.

In case of the second sentence, that is also the case. Again, you can say ”段々 もっと（より）暑くなってくる”.

I believe なってくる and なっていく are the same at least for these examples.


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## karlalou

空が明るくなってくる alone, it's kind of generic or dreamy or can be poetic or like exclaiming, but I think it says that it has already started getting light.

If it's 空が明るくなってきた, it's clear, the sky started getting light while the speaker says so. 

If it's もうすうぐ空が明るくなってくる, getting light will happen in the near future and it's still dark.

The same is applied to 段々暑くなってくる. (Though もうすぐ段々暑くなってくる might not sound very smoothly said.)


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## TheNoll

I have some difficulties understanding the differences between:
空が明るくなってくる
空が明るくなっていく


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## karlalou

TheNoll said:


> I have some difficulties understanding the differences between:
> 空が明るくなってくる
> 空が明るくなっていく


The sky is not coming to visit you or going away to somewhere else, so virtually both are saying the same thing, though it's usually 空が明るくなってきた that we normally say in an everyday conversation. 空が明るくなっていく has a feel of saying the light area spreading outward and maybe a little being literary or poetic.


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## Dante404

Thank you all for the answers! I thought that the difference between 「空が明るくなってくる」 and 「空が明るくなっていく」 is that the former means that the sky gets brighter and brighter and in a definite future point, it stops getting brighter, whereas the latter means that the sky continues getting brighter indefinitely. But now you say that they mean the same and that confused me a little :S


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## karlalou

空が明るくなってくる/きた sounds like someone actually observing or experiencing it, an everyday expression.
空が明るくなっていく, we don't usually say this. It sounds like literature. Like I've said, it has a feel getting brighter outward. Because it says いく（行く）, it sounds like going away from the speaker. However, the sky won't move around but stay there, so it's just subjective feeling that the word creates. Sometimes a writer wants to use the effect. I guess you can call it saying something indefinitely.

We would say
もうすぐ暑くなってきますね／暑くなってくるね
もうすぐ秋ですね。だんだん涼しくなってきますね
もうすぐ今年の夏も過ぎて行きますね.
These are common, but you can also say
もうすぐ暑くなっていきますね
だんだん涼しくなっていきますね.
The differences are just so subtle and subjective. There's no need to say these, but some people choose to say these.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

TheNoll said:


> I have some difficulties understanding the differences between:
> 空が明るくなってくる
> 空が明るくなっていく



It depends on the context, but I, personally, have one distinction about these two sentences.
空が明るくなってくる and 空が明るくなっていく are both the present tense technically.
However, the former has a nuance more close to the past-present, and the latter has a nuance of present-future.

空が明るくなってくる = The sky has been becoming brighter (from the past until present).
空が明るくなっていく = The sky is becoming brighter (from now to the future).

くる＝come from the past to the present
いく＝go from now to the future


This is my personal feeling, and the nuance is also very subtle. Usually I don't even distinct the two sentences, but when I consider the difference, I get the answer myself.
There is no references about this opinion. And I know there are a a lot of exceptions to this opinion, according to the contexts.


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## Dante404

karlalou said:


> 空が明るくなってくる/きた sounds like someone actually observing or experiencing it, an everyday expression.
> 空が明るくなっていく, we don't usually say this. It sounds like literature. Like I've said, it has a feel getting brighter outward. Because it says いく（行く）, it sounds like going away from the speaker. However, the sky won't move around but stay there, so it's just subjective feeling that the word creates. Sometimes a writer wants to use the effect. I guess you can call it saying something indefinitely.
> 
> We would say
> もうすぐ暑くなってきますね／暑くなってくるね
> もうすぐ秋ですね。だんだん涼しくなってきますね
> もうすぐ今年の夏も過ぎて行きますね.
> These are common, but you can also say
> もうすぐ暑くなっていきますね
> だんだん涼しくなっていきますね.
> The differences are just so subtle and subjective. There's no need to say these, but some people choose to say these.



So do you mean the the use of てくる in this context has a subjective nuance while ていく is more objective? I read it somewhere this explanation too, and there was this example: 
人気があがっていく

= They will become  popular. (from now on )
.
And the explanation about the use of ていく was that you are seeing their popularity objectively.

Is that right?




SoLaTiDoberman said:


> It depends on the context, but I, personally, have one distinction about these two sentences.
> 空が明るくなってくる and 空が明るくなっていく are both the present tense technically.
> However, the former has a nuance more close to the past-present, and the latter has a nuance of present-future.
> 
> 空が明るくなってくる = The sky has been becoming brighter (from the past until present).
> 空が明るくなっていく = The sky is becoming brighter (from now to the future).
> 
> くる＝come from the past to the present
> いく＝go from now to the future
> 
> 
> This is my personal feeling, and the nuance is also very subtle. Usually I don't even distinct the two sentences, but when I consider the difference, I get the answer myself.
> There is no references about this opinion. And I know there are a a lot of exceptions to this opinion, according to the contexts.



But then, according to you, if I want to say "The sky *WILL *become brighter" (in a couple of minutes maybe, but *NOT NOW*),　would the sentence  「空が明るくなっ*てくる*」 be wrong? Or at least, it's what I have understood with your explanation, that in such a case I would only be able to use ていく。


I'm getting kind of confused with this issue :S


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## karlalou

Dante404 said:


> So do you mean the the use of てくる in this context has a subjective nuance while ていく is more objective?


No, I didn't say that. 
I don't think the difference between てくる and ていく is whether it's subjective or objective, but I think it's simply if it feels "coming" to us or "going" away from us. Both are subjective or our feelings.



Dante404 said:


> I read it somewhere this explanation too, and there was this example:
> 人気があがっていく


人気があがっていく and 人気があがってくる say the same thing. Both are correct, usually interchangeable. The difference is just so subjective: if it feels like coming to you or going away from you. 人気があがってくる feels like you've been waiting for that. 人気があがっていく might sound like someone's business not yours, but the reality doesn't have to be so.


When you are looking at a shadow slowly moving and it's coming toward you, you say 影がゆっくり動いてくる but not 動いていく. If the shadow is moving away from you, you would say 影がゆっくり動いていく, but not 動いてくる.


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## Dante404

karlalou said:


> 人気があがっていく and 人気があがってくる say the same thing. Both are correct, usually interchangeable. The difference is just so subjective: if it feels like coming to you or going away from you.
> 
> When you are looking at a shadow slowly moving and it's coming toward you, you say 影がゆっくり動いてくる but not 動いていく. If the shadow is moving away from you, you would say 影がゆっくり動いていく, but not 動いてくる.



Yes, I read that, when we are talking about a movement it's easier to know if it's better to use either ていく　or てくる, depending on if the move is away or coming closer to us, but if we are talking about a person like in the example and I have to choose between 人気があがっていく or 人気があがってくる I can't figure out which sound more natural :/


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## karlalou

OK. You came while I was still editing.. XD
I added after you've posted the last one, but I think this helps you that you want to use てくる when you are really or somewhat waiting for that to happen. How's that?

ていく might be to use when you want to sound like it's someone's business, or you are just looking at it helplessly. Or to have some distance to make it feel like polite and/or formal, or literary or poetic.


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## SoLaTiDoberman

Dante404 said:


> But then, according to you, if I want to say "The sky *WILL *become brighter" (in a couple of minutes maybe, but *NOT NOW*),　would the sentence  「空が明るくなっ*てくる*」 be wrong? Or at least, it's what I have understood with your explanation, that in such a case I would only be able to use ていく。


Yes. You understood my explanation.
1. 『今はまだ真っ暗であるが、この後数分のうちに空が明るくなっていく。』 is correct.
2. 『今はまだ真っ暗であるが、この後数分のうちに空が明るくなってくる。』 is wrong, according to my explanation.
However, in this context, I think both can be used.
Both sentences are the present tense, and they are the statement of a truth, or a fact that is constantly repeated day by day.

Now I have to change/correct my explanation, #8" :
I, personally, think that 1 is from the viewpoint of the time when it's still dark.
I think 2 is spoken from the viewpoint of the time after it becomes brighter.

_1. "It's still quite dark now, but I know that the sky is going to turn/become brighter in a few minutes."
2. "It's still quite dark now, but I know that the sky will have become brighter by the time a few minutes later from now."_
*
なっていく＝ turn/change to/become something that is away from the speaker
なってくる＝turn/change to/become something that is closer to the speaker
（This rule has exceptions.)*

Anyway, I found my explanations, "8"&"13" difficult to understand.
Therefore, just forget my explanations, if you don't think they make sense. It would be the best solution for your confusion.
Sorry.


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## frequency

Dante404 said:


> either ていく　or てくる, depending on if the move is away or coming closer to us





SoLaTiDoberman said:


> *なっていく＝ turn/change to/become something that is away from the speaker
> なってくる＝turn/change to/become something that is closer to the speaker
> （This rule has exceptions.)*



Good.
秋になると、空が明るくなってくる。
You suggest that autumn works for making the sky brighter. くる suggests there's the factor (autumn) working so.

秋になると、空が明るくなっていく。
The sky "selfishly and independently" gets brighter. So the relationship between autumn and the sky is less noticeable than the first.

But they're not that strictly defined, and are interchangeable.

Without the autumn's clause,
空が明るくなってくる。and 空が明るくなっていく。 are so roughly equal that you can use either instead of either one. You're talking about the sky only, so you don't suggest anything more that involves.

This is related a bit to this question.


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## Dante404

Thank you all for your replies! I have understood each of them, but it seems very dependable on the context and hard to figure out sometimes what role ていく or てくる play, but I suppose I'll get used to it over time.

I have another question regarding てきた.



雪が降ってきた。
雪が降り始めた。
Both sentences mean "It started to snow", but does both of them mean the same thing? do they have the same nuance?


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## karlalou

Dante404 said:


> 雪が降ってきた。
> 雪が降り始めた。
> Both sentences mean "It started to snow", but does both of them mean the same thing? do they have the same nuance?


Both mean exactly the same thing.

降ってきた is plain, more commonly said in everyday conversation.

降り始めた might be slightly more rigid, but some say it in everyday conversation as well and doesn't really sound rigid at all. When you want to write something a little formally, 降り始めた would be the better choice.


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## Dante404

karlalou said:


> Both mean exactly the same thing.
> 
> 降ってきた is plain, more commonly said in everyday conversation.
> 
> 降り始めた might be slightly more rigid, but some say in everyday conversation as well and doesn't really rigid at all. When you want to write something a little formally, 降り始めた would be the better choice.




Ok, thank you very much! It's what I needed to know.

Now I bumped into this sentence and its translation on Internet"
_
"6ヶ月もダイエット続(つづ)けてるのに、太ってくばかりで、ちっともやせてこないんだよ。
Although I've been on this diet as many as for 6 months, I've only continued to gain and haven't gotten a bit skinnier!"
_
I don't understand why てこない is used instead of てこなかった_. _We are talking about a past action which obviously starts in the past until the present time, so I don't get it


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## karlalou

Dante404 said:


> "6ヶ月もダイエット続(つづ)けてるのに、太ってくばかりで、ちっともやせてこないんだよ。
> Although I've been on this diet as many as for 6 months, I've only continued to gain and haven't gotten a bit skinnier!"


It's just so natural to me. I guess we say things in present tense when something is started in the past and is still continuing in the present moment.

今もまだやってるんだよね sounds like it's still going on.
今もまだやってたんだよね sounds like it has just finished doing it in a few minutes ago for this time. (maybe さっきも is the better word choice than 今も, in this case though.)


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## Dante404

According to what you said, the use of 「てこない」 means that this person went on diet and in the present time is STILL going on the same diet?? (in spite of not having gotten a bit skinnier lol xD)

And my last question:

家の中から足音が響いて*きた*。
Footsteps echoed from within the house.

What is this 「てきた」 indicating here? Maybe that something has just started? Like "Footsteps started to echo from within the house" ?



今日雑誌が出る日だから、本屋でちょっと見ていく。

And as for this last sentence, I can't figure out the meaning either


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## karlalou

Dante404 said:


> According to what you said, the use of 「てこない」 means that this person went on diet and in the present time is STILL going on the same diet?? (in spite of not having gotten a bit skinnier lol xD)


Well, yeah, I guess so, XD　though the given sentence is using てこない with やせる that it's saying the speaker has been not losing any weight up until now since (s)he started the diet.



Dante404 said:


> 家の中から足音が響いて*きた*。
> Footsteps echoed from within the house.
> 
> What is this 「てきた」 indicating here? Maybe that something has just started? Like "Footsteps started to echo from within the house" ?


I think it's natural to think that it's saying the sound came to me[us] from inside the house. I'm not sure, maybe technically it can also mean that it started making the sound, but not very likely. To mean that we probably say 足音がし始めた or 足音が響きだした is also possible.



Dante404 said:


> 今日雑誌が出る日だから、本屋でちょっと見ていく。


I think it sounds like the speaker is going to stop by at a bookstore on the way to somewhere else.
If it's 今日は雑誌が出る日だから、本屋でちょっと見てくる, it sounds like the speaker is going to go to a bookstore and will come back.


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## frequency

By using やせてこない, the speaker can emphasise that his weight hasn't yet reached the status that he desires－losing the weight. Or his weight hasn't _started_ losing yet, so it hasn't reached it.
This やせてこない can be replaced with やせない. If replaced, he says that he hasn't lost his weight yet.

Therefore,


Dante404 said:


> 家の中から足音が響いて*きた*。
> Maybe that something has just started? Like "Footsteps started to echo from within the house" ?


Yes.



Dante404 said:


> 今日雑誌が出る日だから、本屋でちょっと見ていく。


I go to see (if the magazine is there). 本屋でちょっと見ていく is okay, but 本屋へちょっと見に行く is better.


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