ている | Ongoing Actions and States in Japanese

What is ている?

ている is how Japanese expresses ongoing actions and resulting states. It covers what English splits into present continuous ("I am eating") and present perfect ("I have moved"). Our lesson on present continuous in Japanese walks through ている with guided examples and practice.

The construction is simple: take the te-form of any verb, add いる (or います for polite).

• 食(た)べている = is eating (action in progress)
• 住(す)んでいる = lives in / is living in (ongoing state)
• 結婚(けっこん)している = is married (resulting state)

Two Main Meanings

1. Action in Progress (like English "-ing")

When the verb describes an action with duration, ている means it's happening right now:

• テレビを見(み)ている (watching TV)
• ご飯(はん)を食(た)べている (eating food)
• 本(ほん)を読(よ)んでいる (reading a book)
• 走(はし)っている (running)

2. Resulting State

When the verb describes a change of state, ている means the change has happened and the result persists:

• 結婚(けっこん)している = is married (got married → still married)
• 知(し)っている = knows (came to know → still knows)
• 死(し)んでいる = is dead (died → still dead)
• 窓(まど)が開(あ)いている = the window is open (opened → still open)

The difference depends on the verb itself. Not ている. You learn which meaning applies by getting familiar with each verb.

Casual Shortening: てる

In everyday casual speech, いる often shortens to just る:

• 食(た)べている → 食(た)べてる
• 何(なに)してる？ (What are you doing?)
• 知(し)ってる？ (Do you know?)
• 雨(あめ)降(ふ)ってる (It's raining)

This is extremely common and completely natural. You'll hear てる far more than the full ている in conversation.

Polite Form: ています

For polite speech, replace いる with います:

• 食(た)べています (I am eating)
• 住(す)んでいます (I live in ~)
• 知(し)っています (I know)

Negative: ていない

For "not doing" or "hasn't done":

• 食(た)べていない / 食(た)べてない = not eating / haven't eaten
• まだ来(き)ていない = hasn't come yet
• 知(し)らない = doesn't know (NOT 知(し)っていない — 知(し)る is special)

Note: 知(し)る uses 知(し)らない for the negative, NOT 知(し)っていない. This is a common exception.

ている vs Dictionary Form

• 食(た)べる = eat (habitual) or will eat

• 食(た)べている = is eating (right now)

• 日本(にほん)に住(す)む = will live in Japan (future)

• 日本(にほん)に住(す)んでい��� = lives in Japan (current state)

The distinction matters: 何(なに)する (what will you do?) vs 何(なに)してる (what are you doing right now?).

Example Sentences

• 今(いま)何(なに)してる？ (ima nani shiteru?) — What are you doing now?

• 東京(とうきょう)に住(す)んでいます。 (toukyou ni sunde imasu.) — I live in Tokyo.

• 雨(あめ)が降(ふ)っている。 (ame ga futte iru.) — It's raining.

• もう知(し)ってる。 (mou shitteru.) — I already know.

• 彼(かれ)女(おんな)は結婚(けっこん)している。 (kanojo wa kekkon shite iru.) — She's married.

• まだ食(た)べてない。 (mada tabetenai.) — I haven't eaten yet.

• 誰(だれ)か来(き)ている。 (dareka kite iru.) — Someone has come. / Someone's here.

• 日本語(にほんご)を勉強(べんきょう)しています。 (nihongo wo benkyou shite imasu.) — I'm studying Japanese.