Bloated Japanese Grammar: ている (te iru)

ている is a "bloated" grammar point, it does not actually exist and is in reality just the て form + the verb いる. Neither of these do anything special when used together.

By breaking it down into its core components, we can not only understand WHAT it does, but WHY it does it.

What is 「ている」 (teiru)?

First, let's dispel the myth that 「ている」 is a single, magical grammar point. It's actually the combination of two familiar elements:

The て-form: This fundamental core grammar point connects sentences together.
The verb 「いる」 (iru): This is a normal ichidan verb meaning "to exist" (for sentient beings)

So, literally, 「ている」 translates to something like "and exists" But how does this translate to meaning in everyday speech?

「ている」 is the 現在進行形 "Currently Progressing Form"

Here's the magic: 「ている」 creates the "現在進行形 (genzaishinkoukei)""currently progressing form," similar- but not the same, as the "-ing" form in English.

Here are some examples:

テレビを見ている (Terebi wo miteiru) - Watching TV (lit: see TV and exist) In other words- "Exist in the state of watch TV"
歩いてる - Walking (lit: walk and exist) In other words "Exist in the state of walk"

「ている」 is NOT "-ing"

If 起きる means "to wake up", one would expect 起きている to mean "waking up", but this is only half true. While 起きている can mean this, it also, at the same time means "is awake".

起きている (Okiteiru) - Awake/Waking up (lit: wake and exist) In other words "Exist in the state of wake up"

English's "-ing"does not cover both meanings, and thus we cannot say that ている is -ing. It makes more sense to see it as "Exists in the state of -"

Conjugating 「ている」

Since 「いる」 is a regular verb, we can conjugate it like any other ichidan verb. Here's how to turn 「テレビを見ている」 (Terebi o miteiru) into the past tense:

テレビを見ていた (Terebi o miteいた) - Was watching TV (lit: existed in a state of watching TV)

Important Note: This is different from the English phrase "I was watching TV," which is an "A is B" sentence, but テレビを見ていた is an "A does B" sentence. If you confuse these, you are essentially flipping nouns with verbs and verbs with nouns- it would be no wonder that Japanese is confusing this way.

Furthermore, remember how the て-form acts like a bridge? We can leverage this to connect clauses with 「ている」:

雨が降っていて、公園に行けない (Ame ga futteいて、kouen ni ikenai) - It's raining, so I can't go to the park. (lit: Rain exists in a state of fall, cannot go to park)

Here, 「降っている」 (futteiru) is connected to the following clause using the て-form.

Wrapping Up

By understanding 「ている」 as the combination of the て-form and the verb 「いる」, you will realize that ている doesn't actually exist and is only a combination of 2 simpler elements.

Bonus Tip: ている is often contracted to てる.