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This 「いる」 is the same ru-verb describing existence, first described in the negative verb section. However, in this case, you don't have to worry about whether the subject is animate or inanimate.
| Positive | Negative | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Non-Past | 読んでいる | reading | 読んでいない | is not reading |
| Past | 読んでいた | was reading | 読んでいなかった | was not reading |
（１） 友達は何をしているの？- What is friend doing?
（２） 昼ご飯を食べている。- (Friend) is eating lunch.
Note that once you've changed it into a regular ru-verb, you can do all the normal conjugations. The examples show the masu-form and plain negative conjugations.
（１） 何を読んでいる？- What are you reading?
（２） 教科書を読んでいます。- I am reading textbook.
（１） 話を聞いていますか。- Are you listening to me? (lit: Are you listening to story?)
（２） ううん、聞いていない。- No, I'm not listening.
Since people are usually too lazy to roll their tongues to properly pronounce the 「い」, in more casual situations, the 「い」 is simply dropped. This is a convenience for speaking. If you were writing an essay or paper, you should always include the 「い」. Here are the abbreviated versions of the previous examples.
（１） 友達は何をしてるの？- What is friend doing?
（２） 昼ご飯を食べてる。- (Friend) is eating lunch.
（１） 何を読んでる？- What are you reading?
（２） 教科書を読んでいます。- I am reading textbook.
（１） 話を聞いていますか。- Are you listening to me? (lit: Are you listening to story?)
（２） ううん、聞いてない。- No, I'm not listening.
Notice how I left the 「い」 alone for the polite forms. Though people certainly omit the 「い」 even in polite form, you might want to get used to the proper way of saying things first before getting carried away with casual abbreviations. You will be amazed at the extensive types of abbreviations that exist in casual speech. (You may also be amazed at how long everything gets in super polite speech.) Basically, you will get the abbreviations if you just act lazy and slur everything together. Particles also get punted off left and right.
For example:
（１） 何をしているの？(Those particles are such a pain to say all the time...)
（２） 何しているの？ (Ugh, I hate having to spell out all the vowels.)
（３） 何してんの？ (Ah, perfect.)
「知る」
「知る」 means "to know". English is weird in that "know" is supposed to be a verb but is actually describing a state of having knowledge.
Japanese is more consistent and 「知る」 is just a regular action verb. In other words, I "knowed" (action) something and so now I know it (state).
That's why the English word "to know" is really a continuing state in Japanese, namely: 「知っている」.
「知る」 vs 「分かる」
「分かる」 meaning "to understand" may seem similar to 「知る」 in some cases. However, there is a difference between "knowing" and "understanding".
Try not to confuse 「知っている」 with
「分かっている」. 「分かっている」 means that you are already in a state of understanding, in other words, you already get it. If you misuse this, you
may sound pompous. ("Yeah, yeah, I got it already.") On the other hand, 「知っている」 simply means you know something.
（１） 今日、知りました。- I found out about it today. (I did the action of knowing today.)
（２） この歌を知っていますか？- Do (you) know this song?
（３） 道は分かりますか。－Do you know the way? (lit: Do (you) understand the road?)
（４） はい、はい、分かった、分かった。 - Yes, yes, I got it, I got it.
Motion Verbs (行く、来る、etc.)
It is reasonable to assume the actions 「行っている」 and 「来ている」 would mean, "going" and "coming" respectively. But unfortunately, this is
not the case. The 「～ている」 form of motion verbs is more like a sequence of actions we saw in the last section. You completed the motion, and now
you exist in that state. (Remember, 「いる」 is the verb of existence of animate objects.) It might help to think of it as two separate and successive actions: 「行って」、and then 「いる」.
（１） 鈴木さんはどこですか。－Where is Suzuki-san?
（２） もう、家に帰っている。- He is already at home (went home and is there now).
（３） 先に行っているよ。- I'll go on ahead. (I'll go and be there before you.)
（４） 美恵ちゃんは、もう来ているよ。- Mie-chan is already here, you know. (She came and is here.)
Since this grammar describes the state of a completed action, it is common to see the 「は」 and 「も」 particles instead of the 「を」 particle.
（１） 準備はどうですか。- How are the preparations?
（２） 準備は、もうしてあるよ。 - The preparations are already done.
（１） 旅行の計画は終った？- Are the plans for the trip complete?
（２） うん、切符を買ったし、ホテルの予約もしてある。-
Uh huh, not only did I buy the ticket, I also took care of the hotel reservations.
（１） 晩ご飯を作っておく。- Make dinner (in advance for the future).
（２） 電池を買っておきます。- I'll buy batteries (in advance for the future).
「ておく」 is also sometimes abbreviated to 「～とく」 for convenience.
（１） 晩ご飯を作っとく。- Make dinner (in advance for the future).
（２） 電池を買っときます。- I'll buy batteries (in advance for the future).
（１） 鉛筆を持っている？- Do (you) have a pencil?
（２） 鉛筆を学校へ持っていく？- Are (you) taking pencil to school?
（３） 鉛筆を家に持ってくる？- Are (you) bringing pencil to home?
For these examples, it may make more sense to think of them as a sequence of actions: hold and go, or hold and come. Here are a couple more examples.
（１） お父さんは、早く帰ってきました。- Father came back home early.
（２） 駅の方へ走っていった。- Ran toward the direction of station.
The motion verbs can also be used in time expressions to move forward or come up to the present.
（１） 冬に入って、コートを着ている人が増えていきます。
- Entering winter, people wearing coat will increase (toward the future).
（２） 一生懸命、頑張っていく！
- Will try my hardest (toward the future) with all my might!
（３） 色々な人と付き合ってきたけど、いい人はまだ見つからない。
- Went out (up to the present) with various types of people but have yet to find a good person.
（４） 日本語をずっと前から勉強してきて、結局はやめた。
- Studied Japanese from way back before and eventually quit.
This page has last been revised on 2006/1/4