Use of -て来た

空港までタクシーに乗って来た

Can sometime please tell me if this sentence (last lesson in Module 9) is said by someone who is at the airport (having just arrived), or can it be said by anyone at any time and place ? Or some other restriction?

I'm finding the use of 来た (or kuru) in the examples a bit confusing, as it seems to be used not only to express ‘coming’ or ‘came’ (kimashita) ….but also, for example, in sentences like ‘I’m going to the toilet'/'to the convenience store'. Since these are movements away from the speaker, I'm assuming they imply “…and then I'm coming back”? (as they are preceded by -te, suggesting doing one thing after the other?). Is that correct? 

こんにちは (Konnichiwa) roketto,

Thanks for your question!

The structure 〜てくる (~te kuru) can be very confusing at first! The sentence 空港までタクシーに乗ってきた (Kūkō made takushī ni notte kita) translates to “I came to the airport by taxi” and is typically said by someone who is currently at the airport. The verb 来た (kita) “came,” the past tense of 来る (kuru) “to come,” and indicates that the action of coming to the airport has been completed. In this case, the structure 〜てくる (~te kuru) implies that the speaker has already moved toward their current location (i.e. the airport) and that they are speaking from that location. 

If the speaker were at home and talking about traveling to the airport by taxi, though, they would say say 空港までタクシーに乗っていく (Kūkō made takushī ni notte iku) “I will go to the airport by taxi." Since they are going toward the location of the airport, the structure 〜ていく (~te iku) would be used instead.  

The structure 〜てくる (~te kuru) generally describes movement toward the speaker or the speaker's current location. In the case of sentences like トイレに行ってくる (Toire ni itte kuru) “(I) will go to the toilet” and コンビニに行ってくる (Konbini ni itte kuru) “(I) will go to the convenience store,” the structure 〜てくる (~te kuru) implies that the speaker will go somewhere and then return back to their current location. 

I hope this helps! 

勉強を頑張ってください！ (Benkyō o ganbatte kudasai!)

Dear Emma,

Thanks, but isn't this exactly what I had guessed/suggested ?

Since you agree that  “In the case of sentences like トイレに行ってくる (Toire ni itte kuru) “(I) will go to the toilet” and コンビニに行ってくる (Konbini ni itte kuru) “(I) will go to the convenience store,” the structure 〜てくる (~te kuru) implies that the speaker will go somewhere and then return back to their current location. ”,

……could that be made clearer in the lesson? Because at the moment, it is just translated as “I will go” - so it's still confusing. Perhaps you should add in brackets “(and come back)” or something.

Regards

Robin Setton

こんにちは (Konnichiwa) Robin,

To clarify, yes, your understanding of 〜てくる (~te kuru) in those sentences is correct. 

I completely understand how this might be confusing without the addition of “(and come back)." To help make this clearer, each of the phrases in this lesson has a literal translation attached to it, which includes a translation of the relevant usage of the 〜てくる (~te kuru) structure. You can find this by hovering over the “Lit.” box in the right-hand corner of the phrase:

I hope this helps!
 

勉強を頑張ってください！ (Benkyō o ganbatte kudasai!)