～ている
progressive / resultant state
～ている is one of the first important Japanese grammar patterns learners meet. It is made by taking the て-form of a verb and adding いる.
For English speakers, it often feels similar to “is/am/are doing”, but it can also mean that something has happened and the result is still true now.
1. Ongoing action
Use ～ている when an action is happening right now.
今、本を読んでいます。
“I am reading a book right now.”
- 今（いま）= now
- 本（ほん）= book
- を = object marker
- 読んでいます（よんでいます）= am reading
2. Resulting state
Sometimes ～ている does not mean “is doing”. Instead, it means that an action happened before, and the result is still visible or true.
ドアが開いています。
“The door is open.”
- ドア = door
- が = subject marker
- 開いています（あいています）= is open
In this example, the door is not “opening right now”. Someone opened it earlier, and now it is in the state of being open.
How to form it
Verb て-form + いる
- 読む（よむ）= to read → 読んでいる（よんでいる）= is reading
- 食べる（たべる）= to eat → 食べている（たべている）= is eating
- 開く（あく）= to open → 開いている（あいている）= is open
Key idea
Think of ～ている as describing what is true now. That can be an action happening now, or a state that exists now because of something that happened earlier.
Built on the same stem
Updated .