Japanese/Grammar/～ている

Negative conjugation Expand on habitual and stative verbs. The ～ている form has several uses. Progressive Completed actions Stative Habitual Incomplete actions Conjugation While Japanese grammar doesn't always correspond to what we know from English, they both use auxiliary verbs in many circumstances. Continuous tenses in English use the auxiliary verbs am, are, is, was and were. past/non-past Tense Continuous past/non-past tenseI ride the train.I am riding the train. I rode the train. I was riding the train.He talks to a friend.He is talking to a friend. He talked to a friend. He was talking to a friend. The Japanese language has a similar auxiliary verb いる with the ～て form of the verb. + Politeness of the 〜て form Non-past tense Past Tense Polite +います +いました Plain +いる +いた Uses Continuous actions Continuous and progressive aspects When speaking of continuous actions that occur in the present or occurred in the past, the form has the same meaning as the English continuous tense. + Examples past/non-past tense English Plain Polite テレビを見 み ている。 テレビを見 み ています。 I am watching television. 音楽 おんがくを聞 き いている。 音楽 おんがくを聞 き いています。 I am listening to music. 雑誌 ざっしを読 よ んでいる。 雑誌 ざっしを読 よ んでいます。 I am reading a magazine. 宿題 しゅくだいをしていた。 宿題 しゅくだいをしていました。 I was doing my homework. 友達 ともだちと食 た べていた。 友達 ともだちと食 た べていました。 I was eating with a friend. Incomplete tasks When いる is used in the present-negative conjugation, it conveys a sense of action not taken. + Examples past/non-past tense English Plain Polite テストの勉強 べんきょうをしていない テストの勉強 べんきょうをしていません I haven't done any studying for the test.宿題 しゅくだいをしていない まだ宿題 しゅくだいをしていません I haven't done the homework yet. Habitual This form may also be used to describe a habitual activity. USAトゥデーの新聞を読んでいます。 I read the USA Today newspaper. Stative vs Non-stative verbs Much like English, there are verbs that describe a state of the subject, rather than an action. These type of verbs are called stative verbs. You may want to think of these as actions that started in the past, arrived to a state, and this state persists to the present. 図書館は今、開いています。 The library is open. くる, いく, and かえる When the verbs くる, いく, and かえる are used in the ～て in conjunction with the auxiliary verb いる, they are translated as has come, has gone, and has returned, respectively. Exceptions There are some irregular cases with this form. You can use the word 知っています, but not 知っていません. Instead, you'll use the negative form of masu - 知りません. You also can't use ある, いる, and 要る in the ～ている form at all. The same can be said with potential forms of verbs (e.g., 話せる). Colloquial Variations When speaking at a high speed, sometimes syllables are dropped from words to make them easier to say. Colloquial variations of the continuous forms exist and are recognized in the Japanese language. While they are not used in proper writing, these forms are used in every day conversation, especially among friends and family. Standard Colloquial variation Plain 電車 でんしゃに乗 の っている 電車 でんしゃに乗 の ってる Polite 電車 でなしゃに乗 の っています 電車 でんしゃに乗 の ってます All the sentences mean "I am riding the train." Notice that the two sentences on the right have simply dropped the い　from いる／います. By dropping the い, the sentence becomes easier to say quickly. This is a standard colloquial form of the continuous tense, and it works with the non-past continuous and the past continuous. The above example is the present continuous, so let's see an example of the past continuous: Standard Colloquial variation Plain 妹 いもうとと遊 あそ んでいた 妹 いもうとと遊 あそ んでた Polite 妹 いもうとと遊 あそ んでいました 妹 いもうとと遊 あそ んでました Once again, the い was dropped, which forms the colloquial variation. Just remember to use the standard form when writing, but when speaking, the colloquial version will be OK when speaking among friends. However, when speaking to someone of higher status, you may wish to use the standard polite form. deep