ています - ongoing action or resulting state

〜ています

Meaning

Describes an action in progress, a repeated habit, or the lasting result of a past action.

Explanation

The て-form plus います most often describes an action happening right now, similar to English "-ing." It also covers repeated habits ("I work at a bank") and, for certain verbs, a state that resulted from something happening once, like 結婚しています ("[I] am married," literally "have gotten married and that still holds").

Formation

Verb て-form + います

Examples

今、テレビを見ています。
いま、テレビをみています。
I'm watching TV right now.
田中さんは銀行で働いています。
たなかさんはぎんこうではたらいています。
Mr. Tanaka works at a bank.

Grammar explanations and example sentences written for NihongoTech.