LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 63 JLPT N5

Right Now, and Ever Since (〜ている)

〜ている attaches to a verb’s て-form and does more work than English’s “-ing.” It covers an action happening right now, a habit, and a state that’s been true since some point in the past, all with the same ending.

Happening Right Now

A Habit

In Real Life
Nothing in this sentence marks it as happening this exact second, 毎日 (every day) is what pushes the meaning from “right now” to “as a rule.” Same ending, different meaning, entirely dependent on context.

A Lasting State

In Real Life
結婚しています doesn’t mean “I am marrying right now,” it means the marrying already happened and the resulting state is still true. Verbs describing a one-time change, 結婚する (to marry), 住む (to live somewhere), 知る (to find out) all shift to ている to describe the state that change left behind, not the instant it occurred.

Describing Someone

In Real Life
被っている sits directly in front of 人 as a modifier, exactly the same modifying position -ㄴ/은 or -는 would take in Korean, or a relative clause in English (“the person who is wearing”). This is one of the most common ways to describe someone by what they’re wearing or holding at the moment.

Vocabulary

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