te form + verb

[ArthurK]

Hey! I'm only a beginner and I don't know much, but I started noticing something. I've come across some verbs in their te form combined with another verb.
e.g.
持ってくる
持っていく
連れて帰る
and so on.

Is this an actual thing? Is this somehow generalisable to other verbs?

 

[Angel Valis]

In a very general sense it can be applied to all verbs. The て form of a verb can be followed by another clause to mean "and" and since a Japanese sentence can consist of as little as a single verb, this can apply to all verbs. Example: 本を読んで、スーパーに行った。(comma optional)

Those first two examples you gave mean "to bring" and "to take" (things, not people) respectively. While technically two verbs, they tend to function (and are perhaps considered) as one in these forms (they're just one word to me). You could think of them as "to hold and come" and "to hold and go" if you really want to...though I think "bring" and "take" are much more accurate to the true semantic meaning of the compounds. I could be wrong, but I think the third example is "to return (with?)" (a person)...I've only actually seen 連れてくる "to bring" (a person).

て + いく / くる are also grammatical structures and as much as I hate myself for saying this...I don't quite remember what they do...I do seem to remember finding the difference between them to be a little confusing though.

 

[Glenn]

～ていく is generally for a gradual change that hypothetically moves away from the point of view of the speaker.
～てくる is generally for a gradual change that hypothetically moves towards the point of view of the speaker.

That may not make much sense, but you start getting the feel for it when you hear it used more. Also, they can be somewhat literal, as in 遠ざかっていく and 近づいてくる, in which cases something is actually moving away from or towards the speaker.

 

[ArthurK]

Thanks to both of you! とても面白いです。