Going to for a purpose with 〜に行く
Grammar: Purpose » 〜に行く
[verb]に行く means “go somewhere to do something”, such as eating, studying, or shopping.
Usage Notes
Put に after the verb stem that names the purpose. に行く marks movement away from the current location. Related patterns use に来る for movement toward the speaker and に帰る for returning. The destination is optional when context makes it clear.
Formation
- Noun (place) + へ or に or で + Verb stem + に + 行く
- カフェにコーヒーを飲みに行く
- "I go to the café to drink coffee"
- Noun (place) + へ or に or で + Noun (する) + に + 行く
- 日本へ勉強しに行く
- "I'm going to Japan to study."
Note: The place name is optional in each of these formations.
Further Reading
- Verb + にいく (JLPT N5) (bunpro.jp)
- 〜に行く（V辞＋にいく）｜日本語能力試験 JLPT N５ (edewakaru.com)
- にいく (niiku) Meaning Japanese Grammar - To Go (gokugoku.app)
Related Grammar
- Going out of your way to do something with 足を運ぶ
- Coming to for a purpose with 〜に来る
- Returning to for a purpose with 〜に来る
Examples
Going to buy mugs with 〜に行く
Talking about the coffee cups, Cocoa recalls an interesting cup she had found. She suggests going to buy it sometime.
- ココア:
- 「今度買いに行かない？」
- “Why don't we go buy some?”
Going to look at the stars with 〜に行く
Jumbo finds Yotsuba and Ena talking about finding Venus in the sky.
- ジャンボ:
- 「星を見に行こう」
- “Let's go stargazing.”
Supplemental Examples
Try finding this grammar in the following examples:
