Structure
Verb[て]+ いる
Verb[て]+ る
Details
Part of Speech
Conjunctive Particle
Word Type
Verb
Register
Standard
About ている①
ている is a construction used in Japanese to convey that someone or something is existing in a constant state of 'doing' the verb that comes before て. In English, depending on the verb, this can be translated as 'is (A)', 'am (A), or 'are (A)~ing'. The expression is made by adding いる to the て form of either る-Verbs, or う-Verbs.
Due to いる being one of the verbs for 'existing' in Japanese, the ている form means something closer to 'continuing to exist in a specific state', rather than (A)~ing in English. This is why verbs like 死ぬ, and 知る, appear as the ている form in Japanese, when they would appear as the past form in English.
Synonyms
Examples
--:--
Get more example sentences!
Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.
何をしている?
What are you doing?
寿司を食べている。
I am eating sushi.
今、勉強していないよ。
I am not studying now.
今、兄は寝ていません。
My older brother is not sleeping now.
彼は図書館で日本語を勉強しているだろう。
He is studying Japanese at the library, right?
Self-Study Sentences
Study your own way!
Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.
Online
Request (TE) form + Present Continuous (doING)
Japanese Ammo [video]
ている vs. ているところ
Japanese StackExchange
ます, ています verb conjugation (Videos #14 ~ #17)
Japanese Ammo [video]
ている uses explained
BriefJapanese
Offline
Genki I
Page 136
Genki I 2nd Edition
Page 170
Marugoto Elementary 1 (A2) Rikai
Page 24, 50
みんなの日本語 I
Page 92 [CH 14]
みんなの日本語 II
Page 24 [CH 28]
[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 2 & 155
Marugoto Elementary 2 (A2) Rikai
Page 33
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 114
Track Resources!
Bunpro tracks all of the resources you’ve visited, and offers relevant bookmarks of physical books to help with offline tracking.
ている① – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (16 in total)
mietolim
I figured after checking the correct answer that’s it’s probably related to that grammar point, still, it could be useful to have a mention of it in this grammar point to make it clear how it works. I assume there isn’t a separate lesson about the negative form of 〜ている later on.
tonbo
Was in the same boat as @mietolim here. In part because I’m following the Genki path and casual negation is actually covered after the basics of て. I agree, that a pointer would be nice as I also expected the page to be more “batteries included” in light of the other high quality info that is already there.
ctmf
Hey can I resurrect this thread to 2nd onekun’s confusion?
I think I get the ~ている as ongoing action concept, and even the ~てて conjuction of more than one verb phrase, but I would never think to use it like this
これを捨ててください (from one of the -ra pluralizer prompts)
How is this different from これを捨てください?
Edit: duh never mind the first て is part of the verb itself. Question not deleted so I can feel the shame.
(Still, I feel like I do see that ~てて sometimes when it’s not conjunctive, just never at a convenient time to catch it and ask. Still watching for a good example)
Got questions about ている①? Join us to discuss, ask, and learn together!
Join the Discussion