Japanese Language Learning: Ittekimasu and Itterasshai

My favorite phrases that I’ve recently learned are the Japanese expressions ittekimasu (いってきます) and itterasshai (いってらっしゃい). You use itterasshai when someone else is going away and it’s like saying “go and come back,” or “go and have a good time and come back” or “go and return safely!” This week I even saw it translated from Japanese television as “see you later,” (and yes, at this point I’m thrilled when I can recognize any Japanese words in a show or movie!) On the other side of that we have ittekimasu, which means “I’ll go and come back.”

To break it down, the phrase ittekimasu is a combination of the verbs iku (行く) which means “to go” and kuru (来る) meaning “to come,” in the compound form itte kuru (行ってくる), according to coto. And itterasshai combines iku (行く) with the honorific way to say “to come” or “to be,” irassharu (いらっしゃる). It is only proper to use the phrases ittekimasu and itterasshai when you are expecting to see the other person again soon. These are nice phrases that are often used in response to each other.