te form+ iru

I understand the te form of a verb + iru, means "doing" something(ex eating, watching, etc) but, my text book says that, with some verbs in te form + iru, they describe a result of change.

for example


山下先生は結婚しています - Yamashita(sensei) IS married

how come its not "Yamashita(sensei) is GETTING married?

sorry if it was a little confusing

te form + iru means that something/someone is in particular state which is described by the verb. So it is not always translated as "be ~ing".

山下先生は結婚しています。
結婚する get married
結婚して＋いる in the state of get married.
so it should be translated as "Mr.Yamashita is married".

When the verb is to describe the action which can be continued, like "to eat", it can be translated as "be ~ing", but if not, the action is already done and the thing/person is in the state that it's already done.

山田さんは座ります。
Yamada san sits down (on a chair, floor, etc.).
山田さんは座っています。
Yamada san is sitting.
(Yamada san already sit and is now in the state of sitting/seated)

山田さんはリンゴを食べます。
Yamada san eats an apple.
山田さんはリンゴを食べています。
Yamada san is eating an apple.

hmm...so i guess it just depends on the verb, and if it can be "continued"..hmm...i think i understand a bit better. Thanks!

kyubisharingan said:

hmm...so i guess it just depends on the verb, and if it can be "continued"..hmm...i think i understand a bit better. Thanks!

Click to expand...

The problem is that you're trying to explain Japanese sentences with English grammar.

With te-iru forms, my first bit of advice would be to drop the idea of a "present tense" as it doesn't exist as neatly in Japanese as it does in English.

So let's look at your sentence:

山下先生は結婚しています

Click to expand...

When the te-form of a verb is used in the middle of a sentence before another verb or clause, it often carries the meaning of "do X and".

So for the above sentence, we could literally translate it as:

Yamashita got married and is.

So he got married and continues in his current state (of being married). So what the above text reveals is that he got married and is still married.


You can apply this line of thinking to undrentide's examples as well.

山田さんは座っています。

Click to expand...

Yamada sat down and is.
(Yamada sat down and continues to be sitting.)

山田さんはリンゴを食べています。

Yamada eats an apple and is.
(Yamada eats an apple and continues to eat it.)

Good explanations!

So, when someone says "wasureteta" (sorry no IME), it literally means "I forgot and am forgetting"?

82riceballs said:

Good explanations!
So, when someone says "wasureteta" (sorry no IME), it literally means "I forgot and am forgetting"?

Click to expand...

It's a bit closer to "I have/had forgotten"

"wasureta" or "wasureteta" are common ways to say this; I've never heard any one use the present progressive "wasureteru," and I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation that would call for such a conjugation.

So some grammar texts use the term "non past form" instead of "present form".

nice gaijin said:

I've never heard any one use the present progressive "wasureteru," and I'm having a hard time thinking of a situation that would call for such a conjugation.

Click to expand...

(
after heartbreak) 明日になればきっと彼のこと忘れてる (意思 - intention)
あの子ったら今日もまた教科書忘れてる (習慣 - custom)

from 庭三郎's site