Why is it 行ってきます and not いってかえります？

5 comments

1. The answer is probably deeply cultural, but my best guess is that the former is faster to say.

2. It’s just an idea, but something similar happens in spanish. We say Voy-vengo “I will go and come back” I am already at the place I am going to come back. 帰ります、implies I will return home, so it doesn’t at crucial information.

3. technically, your question with 行ってきます is just an expression…there are a bunch of expressions in the language….some may not make sense if you are trying to directly translate…which is why translating is not usually a good idea…as you learn more, try learning how to interpret the language instead….meaning, languages are all about the ideas that are being conveyed…we convey things in different ways depending of the language….its the thought thats tried to be carried across that counts, rather than if the way it was said matches how you think it should be said based on your own language

4. 行って帰ります wouldn’t be incorrect but it would be taken literally, whereas 行ってきます is just how the phrase developed. Also you can say 行ってきます in places/situations that aren’t your home, in which case 行って帰ります wouldn’t make sense.

5. It’s not just used when leaving home, so this would be a very weird change. Taking set polite Japanese phrases literally and breaking them down to their origins might be an interesting topic for an etymologist. But even most native speakers won’t know that history.