Grammar Info

N5 Lesson 7: 5/13

~ている ②

State of being, Has (have) done

ている is often shortened to てる. This applies to all tenses, including てる, てて, てた, and even てます

Structure

Verb[て]+ いる
Verb[て]+ (*)

(*) The い can be omitted in casual language.

Details

  • Part of Speech

    Conjunctive Particle

  • Word Type

    Verb

  • Register

    Standard

  • 品詞

    接続助詞

  • 単語の種類

    動詞

  • 使用域

    一般

About ている②

As mentioned in our first ている lesson, this construction is used to convey that someone or something is existing in a constant state of 'doing' the verb that comes before . Here we will take a closer look at several of the verbs that will be used with ている, to express 'existing in a state of (A) having been done'.
  • クラス(はじ)まっている
    The class has already started. (Existing in the state of having started)
  • (かあ)さん(いま)()(もの)()ています
    My mom went out to go shopping. (Existing in the state of having gone)
  • あの(いぬ)()でいるだろう(かな)
    That dog over there is probably dead… How upsetting. (Existing in the state of having died)
  • 先生(せんせい)めちゃ(おこ)ている
    My teacher is very angry. (Existing in the state of having gotten angry)
All of these verbs would appear as the past form in English, after the initial thing has 'started', 'come', 'died', or 'gotten angry'. However, this is not the case in Japanese. In Japanese, once something is angry, it exists in the state of being angry, once something has started, it exists in the state of being ongoing, once something dies, it exists in the state of being dead, and so on.
Fun Fact
One of the easiest ways that you can tell whether a verb will use the ている form, or the past form, is to think about whether it can happen twice. Something cannot 'start' twice, so it will use ている. Something cannot die twice, so it will use ている, etc. This does not work with every verb, but will help with over 90% of the verbs that require this form.
  • ピアノ()ている
    The piano has fallen. (Existing in the state of having fallen)
Something has fallen and is already on the ground, so it cannot fall again. ている will be used.

Examples

  • バス(いま)大阪(おおさか)()ています

    The bus is in Osaka now. (The bus has come to Osaka and is there now)

    Movement words like いく、帰る、and くる can also be interpreted as progressive actions, so depending on the context, it can also mean 'The bus is going to Osaka now.' If you want to convey progressive action in a clear way, you can use 向かう (バスは今大阪に向かっている).

  • パーティー(はじ)まっている

    The party has begun. (The party has begun and is still going on)

  • 電車(でんしゃ)東京(とうきょう)()ています

    The train is in Tokyo. (The train has gone to Tokyo and is there)

    Like a previous example, this sentence can be interpreted as 'The train is going to Tokyo'.

  • ななさんバナナ(くさ)ています

    Nana's banana is rotten. (Nana's banana went bad and is rotten)

    腐る by itself means 'to go bad' or 'to spoil'. 痛む can also be used to say 'to go bad,' but it is not a momentary verb.

  • 喫茶店(きっさてん)もう()まっています

    The coffee shop is already closed. (The coffee shop has been closed and remains closed)

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ている② – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (18 in total)

  • SeanFM

    SeanFM

    About 1 month ago

    I’ve got the negative form of this (していない) wrong a few times now.

    My first guess just now was してるない for this sentence: サスケさんは結婚していないでしょう?

    How does the conjugation work here? Is it just that いない is the negative form of いる or something?

  • IcyIceBear

    IcyIceBear

    About 1 month ago

    Yep いる becomes いない. The いる at the end will conjugate like an ichidan/る verb

    So like
    食べる 食べない
    食べます 食べません

    食べている 食べていない
    食べています 食べていません

  • dharlequin

    dharlequin

    About 18 days ago

    Thanks for this!
    It feels like it should be covered in the grammar topic itself, and not just hidden in the discussions.

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