Going to for a purpose with 〜に行く

Grammar: Purpose » 〜に行く

[verb]に行(い)く is used to express the purpose of going somewhere to perform a specific action, essentially meaning “go to do something”. It indicates intentional movement to a location for the sake of carrying out an activity, such as eating, studying, or shopping.

Usage

This structure is commonly used in everyday conversations to describe the reason for going to a destination. The verb before “に” represents the intended action, and the overall sentence focuses on the movement for that purpose. Similar patterns exist with “に来(く)る” (come to do) or “に帰(かえ)る” (return to do), but “に行く” specifically denotes going away from the current location. It applies to various verbs, and the place is optional but often included for clarity.

Formation

1. Noun (place) + へ or に or で + Verb stem + に + 行(い)く
   • カフェにコーヒーを飲(の)みに行(い)く
   • "I go to the cafe to drink coffee"
2. Noun (place) + へ or に or で + Noun (する) + に + 行(い)く
   • 日本(にほん)へ勉強(べんきょう)しに行(い)く
   • "I'm going to Japan to study."

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(こんど)買(か)いに行(い)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. He suggests they all go to look at the stars.

ジャンボ:

「星(ほし)を見(み)に行(い)こう」

“Let's go stargazing.”

Supplemental Examples

Shall we go see a movie with 観る

Vocabulary » Observing with 観る

アオハライド » Volume 12 » Page 42