What is the difference in sentences?
学校に行きます。
学校に来ます。
I know the version of speaker’s viewpoint but I still don’t get it.Is there an easier explanation?
PS English is not my native language so comparing ”go” and ”come” doesn’t work for me (
行く vs 来る

Elena-S
June 10, 2011

Pascal-P
June 10, 2011
Hi there.
Both describe movement from one place to another, ie. to school. (gakkou)
In the first sentence, the speaker says that they "go" to school, while in the second sentence, they say they come from school (I think it should be 学校から来ます).
In Japanese, we use 行く or 来る depending on our location at present relative to the place (in this example, school).
A person saying "I go to school" suggests that they are moving from some location to the school. In Japanese, this can also replace the English use of "to come", eg. "I'm coming to school" would still be written as 学校に行きます。
In the second sentence, "I come from school" suggests that the speaker has moved from school to another location.
In short: 行く=movement to a place, 来る=movement from a place
I hope this helps. I don't know how else to explain it.

Elena-S
June 11, 2011
Hm, still I found in a textbook that the sentences "I come TO school" is translated 学校に来ます。

Pascal-P
June 11, 2011
Hi again.
While 学校に来ます is grammatically correct, it is a weird thing to say.
Since 行く is for movement away from the speaker's location, and 来る is for movement to the speaker's location, it would be a bit weird to say "Sorry I didn't go to class this morning" while your in the class, because you'd have to say "Sorry I didn't come to class".
You could for example use 学校に来ました to say "I came to school" if you were already at school, which would make sense.
Alternatively you could use 学校に来ます in the sentence 毎日(まいにち)は、早く(はやく)学校(がっこう)に来ます(きます)。to mean "Everyday, I come TO school early).
I hope this helps. :)