Questions tagged [aspect]

相(アスペクト). A verbal category mainly indicating the speaker's view of the temporal structure of the situation the clause describes, such as whether it is habitual or complete.

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するとしても・したとしても difference

For now, I think するとしても implies that even if you do... or will do (the actions have not been performed yet) and したとしても implies even if you did... (actions that already occurred and something in the ...
Kyuu's user avatar
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"私の彼女はチリ人で、 学生ビザを使って日本に来ています。" - Why is this "she CAME to Japan" and not "is coming..."?

This is only my second question here. My level is somewhere in the N5 region. My question is this: 私の彼女はチリ人で、 学生ビザを使って日本に来ています。 Both Deepl and the Japanese guy whose podcast this is taken from ...
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Difference between —るのでは and —たのでは

Are the following pairs of sentences equivalent? 1a そりゃ、落語を差向いで聞いたんじゃ、面白くもおかしくもない 1b そりゃ、落語を差向いで聞くんじゃ、面白くもおかしくもない 2a 店賃を払った上に小言を言われたんじゃぁ、間尺にあわねぇ 2b 店賃を払った上に小言を言われるんじゃぁ、間尺にあわねぇ 3a それでさ、...
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Function of ておく in 伝えておきます

ておく basically means to do something in advance/preparation, and 伝えておきます seems to be a common saying for "I will tell somebody", e.g. 素晴らしい披露宴だったと彼に伝えておきます。 I do not understand how does ておく ...
Kotoba Trily Ngian's user avatar
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What is the difference between 冷える and 冷えている?

I came across the following example sentence in a dictionary. 今晩は冷えますね。It’s cold tonight, isn’t it? I thought 冷えます, being a verb, would mean "will become cold". But the translation above ...
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Understanding もらっている in this sentence

珠世さんに手当をしてもらっているが、怪我は完治してない Why is the progressive used here?
bulgur69's user avatar
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When is 早く寝てろ used as opposed to 早く寝ろ?

This question is about idiomatic usage of language. The grammatical side of the difference between 寝ろ and 寝てろ is clearly explained here. But I think there is another part of this question: in what ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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Difference between イライラする and イライラしている

I already know that the ている expresses a state after an action ended, rather than a continuous aspect in some verbs, but in some contexts I wonder why the natives would opt for する instead of している. “...
初心者's user avatar
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なってる versus なる. Who is this sentence talking about?

The younger sister is worried about dog attacks. The older sister says this: 「そんなに心配することないわよ。もうどっかに行っちゃっていなくなってるわよ。」 There's no need to worry so much. You'll reach the point where you end up not ...
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その店で去年{○働いていた/×働いている}男性がテレビに出た。 - why is that?

According to this website (I think it is 初級を教える人のための日本語文法ハンドブック), if there are no time adverbs in an adjective clause, you have to use ていた or ている to mean an action in the past. However, if a time ...
vincentlin's user avatar
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Why "We've worked" can't be in the past?

On Duolingo with the phrase "We've worked at this bakery since twenty eleven." It doesn't accept 私たちは2011年からこのパン屋で働いていました. It says the correct answer is 私たちは2011年からこのパン屋で働いています Why can't I ...
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Use cases of していない/してない

I've seen this form show up a few times. In a past Japanese class, I was told that it could be used in the sense of "I haven't done X yet", as in まだ宿題をしてない. Also, I was told that 知っている in ...
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終わる to mean closed shop

Is it a natural or at least used way to say "closed" like in that example, using the verb 終わる ? A : 今7時ですが、スーパーは終わりましたか。 B : いいえ、8時まで開いているはずですよ。
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What is the difference between ~てくれる and ~てくれている?

Someone I talked to on the internet said to me: あなたみたいに面白いなと思ってくれてるお客さんはいるみたい、たまに… The person was talking about a sentence I'd said earlier that people would probably think their restaurant was a ...
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What is the difference between していたりします and したりしています

For example 歌を歌ったりしていますか? vs 歌を歌っていたりしますか? Also for a sentence like this: あなた、私が盗んだと思っていたりします? vs あなた、私が盗んだと思ったりしています? I've asked a native speaker and apparently the second sentence seems more ...
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What に means in に迫っている?

I'm confused what に is doing in this sentence. 千二百年に一度という彗星の来訪が、いよいよひと月後に迫っています。 I wonder if this に specifies when 迫る will happen. If that's case, then why 迫る is in ている form not plain form? Perhaps, ...
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Interpretations of できる and できている

Here are two lines (台詞) from different animes. 女の子って、何でできてる? (放浪息子) でも、それ、じゃ赤ちゃんってどうしてできるんだろう (苺ましまろ) I'm wondering why the verb できる (make) appears in the different tenses but it's expressing same ...
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た particle usage in のど乾いた

I was watching an anime and the character said something along the lines of "のど乾{かわ}いたね~". This would mean something like "I'm thirsty" (looking at the previous dialogues, this was ...
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Why 言ってます instead of 言います in 昔の自分に会えたら、言ってますよ?

けど、昔の自分に会えたら、言ってますよ。そんな悪い癖染み付く前にとっととやめろって。 I am not sure why 言っている is used rather than 言う. I would expect する after the conditional, e.g.「友達に会えれば、買い物に行きます。」(Tae Kim) I would've used these: 昔の自分に会えたら、...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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7 votes
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Why 忘れてる in「来週(明日)には忘れてる」?

来週(明日)には忘れてる Initially, this strikes me as odd, because I would expect 来週には忘れる. But it seems to make sense: "Come next week, (I) will have forgotten about it." How would 忘れる work ...
Eddie Kal's user avatar
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になりました vs になっています

Can someone explain the difference between these two to me? 長い間日本語を勉強しなくて、下手になりました 長い間日本語を勉強しなくて、下手になっています The way I understand it currently is that the first one indicates that at some point in ...
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コンタクトこっちで外しちゃっていた - ている/ていた difference?

For quick background information, the girl Chiyo was supposed to take a shower with her friend Mayumi but forgot her shampoo, so she went back out while she told Mayumi to go in ahead. In the meantime ...
Boolicious's user avatar
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The implication of 段々 with a non-past verb (なります)

A sentence from my current favourite bugbear: 息子の成績が段々よくなります。 My son's grades are getting better and better. (given translation) I have two problems with the given translation: "getting better ...
user3856370's user avatar
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1 answer
238 views

Why「なっていた」is used here?

I was reading a manga about a boy who turned into a girl. I found this odd line. つまり... 目が覚めたら突然女の子になっていた... という事でいいですか? When the girl-boy arrived at school, his kouhai didn't recognize him at first....
Jimmy Yang's user avatar
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What's the difference between V-るうちに and V-ているうちに?

My grammar book says: "V-ている is used more than V-る, but the pattern V-るうちに is sometimes used." Is there a difference in meaning or style between the two? When are they not interchangeable? ...
seesta's user avatar
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ている in continuous or perfect aspects

I learned that ている can be used in both Continuous Tense and Perfect Tense, and with both instant state change verbs and durative verbs. If we consider only durative verbs (e.g. 食べる, 作る etc.) When is ...
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How can I combine time markers with different verb tenses?

The original title of Question: Sentences with strange/Incorrect(from English point of view) [Time conjunctive][Conclusive verb form] combinations and aspects/nuances reflected? I read this thread: ...
raruna's user avatar
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Does vている with the following intransitive verb refer to expressing the present state

I was understanding the concept of vている and its implications on the intransitive verb. I have seen that, vている when used with punctual transitive verb, are used to focus on the present state (somewhat),...
APK's user avatar
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話します vs 話しています in a News Article

国は「中止していた特定技能の試験を外国でいつ始めることができるか考えたいと思います」と話しています。 Source: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/easy/k10012450361000/k10012450361000.html At the end, the sentence says: 話しています but I don’t get why the ...
Etienne Zizka's user avatar
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Difference between 感謝している and 感謝する

What's the difference between 感謝している and 感謝する? Looking at http://www.tanos.co.uk/jlpt/skills/vocab/sentences/?vocabid=85961 , I get the impression that for the word 感謝, it is not as simple as one ...
Newbie's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
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Past tense and continuous tense of verb (持った・持っている)

I was watching a Japanese video and it seems it is more accurate to say 傘を持った rather then 傘を持っている to indicate that I am holding an umbrella. For example if someone asks "傘を持った?" the grammatically ...
Newbie's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
610 views

What is the difference between ながら and のに for expressing "despite"/"although"?

Both grammar points seem to express similar sentiments. But I had a practice question today which said 友だちは授業の教室が変わったと(  )、教えてくれませんでした。 with two choices being 知りながら and 知るのに. Both choices seem to ...
Domenic's user avatar
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Why is the plain negative in this sentence translated as "haven't"?

まだ部屋が暖まらない I encountered this sentence in an Anki deck (core 10k) and I can't seem to wrap my head around it, specifically its translation. According to the deck, the English sentence is "The ...
kraken55's user avatar
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1 answer
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Why is "not knowing" 知らない and not e.g. 知っていない? [duplicate]

I remember reading a bit about this topic in the answer of another post, but I specifically wanted to make this its own question: It seems to make sense that "to know" is typically 知っている, because 知る ...
Kaskade's user avatar
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When is <verb stem>+かける's meaning to start and leave unfinished?

I recently learned that the construction +かける means to start something, but with an implication that the action was left unfinished: ビールを飲みかけたことがあるんだけど、味を全然好きなかった。 "I've had a beer before, but I ...
SystematicDisintegration's user avatar
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1 answer
660 views

te form negative vs negative form (HW: やっていない, why not やらなかった or やっていなかった)

I've been studying Japanese here in Tokyo from scratch for a good 2 months now. I've been struggling with daily conversation but I try to improve each day by studying. Lately, I am trying to ...
Jp Arcilla's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
503 views

まま and the particle に

弟はテレビをつけたままにしておいた On Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar the translation is My younger brother left the TV on. I do not understand why にしておいた is needed. I checked and it means : do something in ...
Shiniboi's user avatar
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What should I use 来ません or 来ません でした

Which is the correct answer to the question もう ジョンさんは 来ましたか。 いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません。 or いいえ, まだ ジョンさんは 来ません でした。
Sod's user avatar
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2 answers
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ように translation help

Page seven in my book has the following text, which is linked to the next sentence on page seventeen. 貫くような衝撃が顎から脳天を突き抜け、次第に目の前が真っ白になってゆく感覚に襲われる中、耳には銀髪の外国人の興奮した声が入ってきていた。 (translation: The ...
Toyu_Frey's user avatar
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"If I have done that" in the continuous form? [duplicate]

I saw this sentence on TV: 日々心によぎる「あのとき こうしていれば」という言葉。。。 and I wonder why していれば is used here and not すれば. When I asked my teacher he said it is an N1 grammar point, he tried to explain it to me ...
Smiled_One's user avatar
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Sleeping verbs and まで vs までに

So I was wondering, pretty much all of the sleep related verbs switch meaning with まで and までに. Was it always like that? Or was there a time when 8時まで寝る meant "going to bed at 8"? Or take the even ...
sollniss's user avatar
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2 answers
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How can 若い時 and ずっと work in this sentence?

I'm trying to write "I have wanted to study Japanese from a young age" And I have "若い時に私は日本語をずっと勉強したいです." Does this work? How can I make it more correct?
user33096's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
425 views

Japanese grammar "てある” [duplicate]

So I just encountered the grammar "te aru" and according to Japanesetest4you it means that something has been done. They provide the following sentence as an example: 君の靴下も全部洗濯してある。 Kimi no ...
Veronica Perez's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
741 views

Confused with verb form ( I am eating vs I was eating, vs I haven’t eaten (yet))

So i came across this question and I can’t seem to get my head around it! Sorry if it’s obvious. I learned that the progressive form for a verb (-ing ) is the ーて form + (-いる/-います) . So I am eating ...
Lisa Ishii's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
172 views

Usage of the verb 続く in past tense

From this article 日本では、スポーツの選手がコーチなどから暴力やパワーハラスメントを受ける問題が続きました。 The problem of sportsmen receiving violence and harassment from coaches in Japan continued. I don't understand why 続く is written ...
user3856370's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
194 views

Does the use of ていたら in the first clause require it in the second?

From my JLPT N1 grammar text, explaining special uses of the ている form, in describing 事実に反すること; the text explains that ている marks the sentence more emphatically as non-reality, than the use of 過去形. ...
Frithany's user avatar
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2 answers
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Question about ている ていた for explaining state for something

What is difference between 財布が落ちていた and 財布が落ちている? Both refer to the state of 財布, right? So, what is the difference? (My main question is I want to know the difference between (が/は)~ていた and (が/は)~ている ...
Gailboss's user avatar
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perfective aspect vs resultative present progressive vs resultative past progressive

Firstly, I am not a linguist and will probably use linguistic terminology inappropriately. よろしくお願いします。 What is the difference in meaning between verbs in the perfective aspect (~た), present ...
jdkrensel's user avatar
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1 answer
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What is the conjugation form, grammar of もうすぐ込んできそう ?

アナウンス:皆様、本日はご来場ありがとうございます。午前十時現在の各館の 混雑状況と催しものの お知らせをいたします。まず、ロボット館はただいま、 一時間待ちとなっております。ロボット館のレ ストランではロボットがランチ をお席までお運びをするサービスをしております。お昼近くになります と、さ らに混雑が見込まれます。次に、未来館は現在すぐにお入りいただけます。なお、 ...
JoisBack's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
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Motion verbs in ている form?

I've heard that when a motion verb is seen in ている form, such as 来ている, it is translated as "I came and am now here." If someone were to ask "What are you doing?" and I wanted to respond with "I'm ...
Jake Wiener's user avatar