1

I was going through ている, and a question popped up in my that, whether ている be used to denote those acts that are being expressed that haven't been performed habitually?

ている, as we know, can express habitual things e.g. 私は毎日新聞を読んでいる (meaning I read newspaper daily)

Can ている be expressed to show that I don't perform an act habitually (lets say I don't do something daily, weekly etc.) E.g. 私は毎日新聞を読んでいない?

Thank You

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3

So I hope I understand your question here, and this answer makes sense.

First off your eg. sentence works. It implies that you do read the paper, but not everyday.

Lets say you want to use a different time delimiter than everyday; we could use たまに. We have two options for this, Positive and Negative, and both effectively mean the same thing while using opposite logic.

私はたまに新聞を読んでいる

私はたまにしか新聞を読んでいない　　(Note the use of しか～　vない）

You could also say something like, 毎日読んでいないけど、週4回読んでいます。

Hope that Helps.

Improve this answer
3
  • You mean the 2nd example sentence or the 1st one ? Could you please elaborate your answer, if possible ?
    – APK
    Jul 25, 2020 at 5:23
  • Ok sorry I see how my answer could be confusing. First 2 sentances are saying the same thing,
    – Reed Day
    Jul 26, 2020 at 0:46
  • 1
    Ok, sorry I see how my answer could be confusing. First 2 sentences are essentially saying the same thing: "I read the paper occasionally", and "I only read the paper occasionally". The last sentence is example using both positive and negative, "I don't read everyday, but I do read 4 time a week" All sentences are usable
    – Reed Day
    Jul 26, 2020 at 0:52

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .