Ongoing and done
Conjugations, Stage 1chunk 5 of 15Verb forms
te-form plus iru: what's going on, what was going on, and what hasn't happened yet.
- -teru / -te iruIs doing, or is in a state (is married, knows, lives somewhere).
- -teta / -te itaWas doing, or had been in a state.
- -tenai / -te inaiIsn't doing; or hasn't done (yet).
Mix-ups -teru as a resulting state (kekkon shiteru, kiteru) heard as an action in progress; shittenai for shiranai.
-teru / -te iru
ongoing or stateIs doing, or is in a state (is married, knows, lives somewhere).
What someone is doing right now, ongoing habits, and states like shitteru (know) and kekkon shiteru (married). -teru is how it sounds in speech.
Make it te-form plus iru; in speech the i drops: tabeteru, matteru, nonderu. suru → shiteru, kuru → kiteru.
Polite -te imasu
With change verbs it's the result, not the action: kekkon shiteru = is married, kiteru = has come (is here).
| taberu | tabeteru | 食べてる | |
|---|---|---|---|
| miru | miteru | 見てる | |
| kau | katteru | 買ってる | |
| matsu | matteru | 待ってる | |
| kaeru | kaetteru | 帰ってる | |
| nomu | nonderu | 飲んでる | |
| asobu | asonderu | 遊んでる | |
| kaku | kaiteru | 書いてる | |
| oyogu | oyoideru | 泳いでる | |
| hanasu | hanashiteru | 話してる | |
| iku | itteru | 行ってる | |
| suru | shiteru | してる | |
| kuru | kiteru | 来てる |
nee, ima nani shiteru no?
Hey, what are you doing right now?
ねえ、今何してるの？
ima nani o shite imasu ka?
What are you doing right now?
今何をしていますか？
Heard 277,549× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles (12.2% of verbs)Main list -teru (Stage 1)
-teta / -te ita
was doingWas doing, or had been in a state.
Setting the scene in a story (what you were doing when...), and past states like 'I used to live in...'.
Make it te-form plus ita; in speech the i drops: tabeteta, matteta, nondeta. suru → shiteta, kuru → kiteta.
Polite -te imashita
shitteta means 'I knew'; 'I didn't know' is shiranakatta, not shittenakatta.
| taberu | tabeteta | 食べてた | |
|---|---|---|---|
| miru | miteta | 見てた | |
| kau | katteta | 買ってた | |
| matsu | matteta | 待ってた | |
| kaeru | kaetteta | 帰ってた | |
| nomu | nondeta | 飲んでた | |
| asobu | asondeta | 遊んでた | |
| kaku | kaiteta | 書いてた | |
| oyogu | oyoideta | 泳いでた | |
| hanasu | hanashiteta | 話してた | |
| iku | itteta | 行ってた | |
| suru | shiteta | してた | |
| kuru | kiteta | 来てた |
gomen, sakki made zutto neteta
Sorry, I was asleep until just now.
ごめん、さっきまでずっと寝てた。
sumimasen, sakki made zutto nete imashita
Sorry, I was asleep until just now.
すみません、さっきまでずっと寝ていました。
Heard not counted: the tokenizer can’t pick this form out
-tenai / -te inai
not doing, not yetIsn't doing; or hasn't done (yet).
With mada, it's how you say you haven't done something yet.
Make it te-form plus inai; in speech the i drops: tabetenai, mattenai, nondenai. suru → shitenai, kuru → kitenai.
Polite -te imasen
'Not yet' is mada -tenai, not -nakatta. And 'I don't know' is shiranai, not shittenai.
| taberu | tabetenai | 食べてない | |
|---|---|---|---|
| miru | mitenai | 見てない | |
| kau | kattenai | 買ってない | |
| matsu | mattenai | 待ってない | |
| kaeru | kaettenai | 帰ってない | |
| nomu | nondenai | 飲んでない | |
| asobu | asondenai | 遊んでない | |
| kaku | kaitenai | 書いてない | |
| oyogu | oyoidenai | 泳いでない | |
| hanasu | hanashitenai | 話してない | |
| iku | ittenai | 行ってない | |
| suru | shitenai | してない | |
| kuru | kitenai | 来てない |
mada hirugohan tabetenai n da yo
I haven't had lunch yet.
まだ昼ご飯食べてないんだよ。
mada hirugohan o tabete imasen
I haven't had lunch yet.
まだ昼ご飯を食べていません。
Heard not counted: the tokenizer can’t pick this form out