ABSTRACT
Meanings expressed by V-te iru are: 1. action in progress; 2. resultant state; 3. habitual/repeated action; and 4. experience. Its meaning depends on the types of verb used or the context in which it is used. In casual speech, the vowel i in the auxiliary iru is often omitted, resulting in V-te ru. Action in progress When the main verb is a durative action verb, V-te iru indicates that the action denoted by the main verb is in progress at a given moment. Durative action verbs are verbs that denote an action that takes some time to perform; e.g. taberu ‘to eat,’ nomu ‘to drink,’ utau ‘to sing,’ kaku ‘to write,’ miru ‘to watch,’ matsu ‘to wait’ and aruku ‘to walk.’ Motion verbs, e.g. iku ‘to go’ and kuru ‘to come’ do not belong to this group.
