～に行く – Expressing ‘Go Somewhere to Do Something’ in Japanese [JLPT N5]

Quick Summary

• Meaning: “Go to do (something).” You move to a place, and your main purpose is to do that action there.
• How to Use: V-ます-stem + に + 行く (V-masu-stem + ni iku)

• Example: ねこがコンビニにパンを買いに行きます。
• Neko ga konbini ni pan o kai ni ikimasu.
• The cat goes to the convenience store to buy bread.

Overview

The grammar pattern ～に行く (~ni iku) is used when you go somewhere in order to do something. It connects a verb (an action) with the verb 行く (iku, to go).

In English, this is very close to “go to do ~” as in “go to eat,” “go to study,” or “go to see my friend.” The important idea is:

• You move from one place to another.
• You have a purpose for that movement (to eat, to play, to shop, etc.).

For example, if you say:

• スーパーに行きます。
• Suupaa ni ikimasu.
• I go to the supermarket.

We only know you go to the supermarket. But if you say:

• スーパーにりんごを買いに行きます。
• Suupaa ni ringo o kai ni ikimasu.
• I go to the supermarket to buy apples.

Now we clearly know why you go: your purpose is to buy apples.

In daily Japanese, ～に行く is extremely common and very natural. You will use it all the time to talk about your plans, your weekend, or even strange hobbies like going to the park to talk with crows.

Structure / Formation

Basic Pattern

The core formula for this grammar is:

• V-stem + に + 行く

Here:

• V-stem is the verb in its polite ます form, but without ます.
• に (ni) marks the purpose of going.
• 行く (iku) means “to go.”

So the overall pattern becomes:

• Place + に + V-stem + に + 行く

In shorthand with the roles:

• Place + に + V-stem + に + 行く

Examples of V-stem:

• 食べます → 食べ (V-stem of 食べる, to eat)
• 飲みます → 飲み (V-stem of 飲む, to drink)
• 勉強します → 勉強し (V-stem of 勉強する, to study)
• 見ます → 見 (V-stem of 見る, to see/watch)

Common Verbs with ～に行く

Here is a small table to show how some very common verbs work with ～に行く.

Dictionary form (V-る)	Polite form (V-ます)	V-stem	Pattern with ～に行く
食べる (taberu, to eat)	食べます	食べ	食べに行く
飲む (nomu, to drink)	飲みます	飲み	飲みに行く
遊ぶ (asobu, to play/hang out)	遊びます	遊び	遊びに行く
買う (kau, to buy)	買います	買い	買いに行く
勉強する (benkyou suru, to study)	勉強します	勉強し	勉強しに行く

Full Sentence Pattern

Let’s put everything together in a simple pattern you can copy:

• Person + は + Place + に + V-stem + に + 行く

This is the basic structure. You can then change the tense of 行く (iku) to talk about the past, future, or plans.

Form	Pattern	Meaning
Non-past (present/future)	V-stem + に行く	go to do ~ / will go to do ~
Past	V-stem + に行った	went to do ~
Polite non-past	V-stem + に行きます	go / will go to do ~ (polite)
Polite past	V-stem + に行きました	went to do ~ (polite)

Easy Quirky Examples

Example: purpose of going (non-past, polite)

• ロボットは学校に日本語を勉強しに行きます。
• Robotto wa gakkou ni Nihongo o benkyou shi ni ikimasu.
• The robot goes to school to study Japanese.

Example: purpose of going (past, casual)

• おじいさんはゲームセンターにアイドルの写真を撮りに行った。
• Ojiisan wa geemu sentaa ni aidoru no shashin o tori ni itta.
• Grandpa went to the game center to take photos of idols.

Example: no clear place, just purpose (the place is “outside somewhere”):

• 兄は夜に星を見に行きます。
• Ani wa yoru ni hoshi o mi ni ikimasu.
• My older brother goes at night to look at the stars.

Key Points to Remember

For correct and natural use of ～に行く, keep these points in mind:

• Use the V-stem (the ます form minus ます) before に行く.
• The verb before に行く shows the purpose of going.
• You can add a place + に before the verb to show where you go.

With this, you can already say a lot of fun things: go to eat rainbow cake, go to meet a famous goldfish, or go to the library to sleep on a grammar book. All of them will use the same simple pattern: V-stem + に + 行く.

Example Sentences

• うさぎはデパートにスーツを買いに行きます。
• Usagi wa depaato ni suutsu o kai ni ikimasu.
• The rabbit goes to the department store to buy a suit.

• 妹は図書館におばけの本を読みに行きました。
• Imouto wa toshokan ni obake no hon o yomi ni ikimashita.
• My little sister went to the library to read ghost books.

• ロボットは山に朝ごはんの写真を撮りに行きます。
• Robotto wa yama ni asagohan no shashin o tori ni ikimasu.
• The robot goes to the mountain to take photos of breakfast.

• おじいさんはゲームセンターに高校生とダンスをしに行きました。
• Ojiisan wa geemu sentaa ni koukousei to dansu o shi ni ikimashita.
• Grandpa went to the game center to dance with high school students.

• 私は夜、駅までカラスと話しに行きます。
• Watashi wa yoru, eki made karasu to hanashi ni ikimasu.
• At night, I go to the station to talk with crows.

Quick Practice

(Answers and explanations are right under this section.)

Multiple-Choice

1. Choose the best sentence: “I go to the cafe to drink coffee.”

• A. 私はカフェにコーヒーを飲みますに行きます。(Watashi wa kafe ni koohii o nomimasu ni ikimasu.)
• B. 私はカフェでコーヒーを飲みに行きます。(Watashi wa kafe de koohii o nomi ni ikimasu.)
• C. 私はカフェにコーヒーを飲みに行きます。(Watashi wa kafe ni koohii o nomi ni ikimasu.)
• D. 私はカフェとコーヒーを飲みに行きます。(Watashi wa kafe to koohii o nomi ni ikimasu.)

2. Choose the correct polite past sentence: “Yesterday I went to the park to run.”

• A. 昨日、公園に走りに行きました。(Kinou, kouen ni hashiri ni ikimashita.)
• B. 昨日、公園で走りますに行きました。(Kinou, kouen de hashirimasu ni ikimashita.)
• C. 昨日、公園に走るに行きました。(Kinou, kouen ni hashiru ni ikimashita.)
• D. 昨日、公園や走りに行きました。(Kinou, kouen ya hashiri ni ikimashita.)

3. Choose the best sentence that uses ～に行く correctly.

• A. 猫は図書館に新聞を読みに行きます。(Neko wa toshokan ni shinbun o yomi ni ikimasu.)
• B. 猫は図書館と新聞を読み行きます。(Neko wa toshokan to shinbun o yomi ikimasu.)
• C. 猫は図書館で新聞を読む行きます。(Neko wa toshokan de shinbun o yomu ikimasu.)
• D. 猫は図書館に新聞を読んで行きます。(Neko wa toshokan ni shinbun o yonde ikimasu.)

4. Choose the correct casual sentence: “My older brother goes to the station to meet his friend.”

• A. 兄は駅と友だちに会いに行く。(Ani wa eki to tomodachi ni ai ni iku.)
• B. 兄は駅に友だちと会いに行く。(Ani wa eki ni tomodachi to ai ni iku.)
• C. 兄は駅に友だちと会うに行く。(Ani wa eki ni tomodachi to au ni iku.)
• D. 兄は駅で友だちと会いに行く。(Ani wa eki de tomodachi to ai ni iku.)

5. Choose the best sentence: “On Sunday, the robot will go to the sea to swim.”

• A. 日曜日、ロボットは海に泳ぎに行きます。(Nichiyoubi, robotto wa umi ni oyogi ni ikimasu.)
• B. 日曜日、ロボットは海で泳ぎに行きます。(Nichiyoubi, robotto wa umi de oyogi ni ikimasu.)
• C. 日曜日、ロボットは海に泳ぎ行きます。(Nichiyoubi, robotto wa umi ni oyogi ikimasu.)
• D. 日曜日、ロボットは海に泳ぎを行きます。(Nichiyoubi, robotto wa umi ni oyogi o ikimasu.)

Spot-the-Error

6. One sentence has a mistake with ～に行く. Which one is wrong?

• A. 妹はデパートにくつを買いに行きました。(Imouto wa depaato ni kutsu o kai ni ikimashita.)
• B. おじいさんは映画館に映画を見るに行きました。(Ojiisan wa eigakan ni eiga o miru ni ikimashita.)
• C. 私は夜、コンビニにお弁当を買いに行きます。(Watashi wa yoru, konbini ni obentou o kai ni ikimasu.)

7. One sentence has a mistake with the place or particle around ～に行く. Which one is wrong?

• A. 友だちは川に魚を見に行きます。(Tomodachi wa kawa ni sakana o mi ni ikimasu.)
• B. 母はスーパーで野菜を買いに行きます。(Haha wa suupaa de yasai o kai ni ikimasu.)
• C. 先生は学校に学生と話しに行きます。(Sensei wa gakkou ni gakusei to hanashi ni ikimasu.)

Translation

8. Translate into Japanese using ～に行く: “The panda goes to the library to study Japanese.”

9. Translate into Japanese using ～に行く: “Last week, I went to the mountain to take photos.”

10. Translate into Japanese using ～に行く: “Every morning, my cat goes to the park to run.”

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Answers and Explanations

1. 私はカフェにコーヒーを飲みに行きます。(Watashi wa kafe ni koohii o nomi ni ikimasu.) — Uses the correct pattern “place + に + V-stem + に行きます”; both に particles are used naturally.
2. 昨日、公園に走りに行きました。(Kinou, kouen ni hashiri ni ikimashita.) — 走り is the V-stem of 走ります, and 公園に marks the destination of going.
3. 猫は図書館に新聞を読みに行きます。(Neko wa toshokan ni shinbun o yomi ni ikimasu.) — This is the only option that correctly uses V-stem + に + 行く for the purpose.
4. 兄は駅に友だちと会いに行く。(Ani wa eki ni tomodachi to ai ni iku.) — 駅に marks where he goes, and 会い is the V-stem of 会います before に行く.
5. 日曜日、ロボットは海に泳ぎに行きます。(Nichiyoubi, robotto wa umi ni oyogi ni ikimasu.) — Only this sentence has correct V-stem + に行きます and uses に for the destination.
6. おじいさんは映画館に映画を見るに行きました。(Ojiisan wa eigakan ni eiga o miru ni ikimashita.) — The verb before に行く should be the V-stem 見, not the dictionary form 見る.
7. 母はスーパーで野菜を買いに行きます。(Haha wa suupaa de yasai o kai ni ikimasu.) — The destination of “go” should be marked with に, so スーパーで is incorrect here; it should be スーパーに.
8. パンダは図書館に日本語を勉強しに行きます。(Panda wa toshokan ni Nihongo o benkyou shi ni ikimasu.) — Uses the V-stem 勉強し before に行きます and marks the library as the place with に.
9. 先週、山に写真を撮りに行きました。(Senshuu, yama ni shashin o tori ni ikimashita.) — Uses the past polite 行きました and the V-stem 撮り to show the purpose of going.
10. 毎朝、私の猫は公園に走りに行きます。(Maiasa, watashi no neko wa kouen ni hashiri ni ikimasu.) — 毎朝 sets the time, 公園に is the destination, and 走りに行きます expresses “go to run.”