Usage of ている in Punctual Verbs in Japanese and the Concept of Present Perfect in English


  1. Answer to the first question has been given by ナルトさん. But any new answers or thoughts or suggestions are really appreciated!!

  2. Answer to the second question can be extended, as only a touchstone was laid down by ナルトさん, and this is a limitless answer, so anyone is free to give their opinion.

  3. I have tried to give answer to question #3 based on ナルトさん's reasoning but I am not sure about it. So, this question requires more in-depth answers.

Using ている has been tricky for me. I have always stumbled upon, as when to use
ている form and when to use た/だ form (Past) in cases of Punctual Verbs. So, in
order to get a better understanding I revisited my English grammar book, to
see the difference between Simple Past and Present Perfect. Over there I found
a few rules that were to be followed, to distinguish, between Present Perfect
and Past. Following are the rules that were laid down:

> English Grammar Principles for usage of Present Perfect and Simple Past

(Please note I would be using only those verbs that are Punctual Verbs in
Japanese)

  1. Where time is used or the focus is on the time, use Simple Past E.g. I turned on the light at 8. Whereas, if time (whether known or not, is immaterial) is not used then we use Present Perfect. E.g. I have turned on the light. As Simple past (In English) focuses on the point of time a thing/act happened.

  2. When you tell about life experience and travelling experiences, use Present Perfect. E.g. I have graduated and I have been to NY 3 Times.([This part has already been answered by @The Japan Nomad Girl](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/78845/usage-of-%E3%81%97%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B-in-cases-of-talking-about-experience))

  3. Time when in essence has not been completed, like this week, this year etc. (however usage of last week or likewise vocabulary would make time in essence complete and would make the sentence Simple Past). E.g. I have worn new shirts this week.

  4. When the Action has been performed in the Past, but the focus is in present, then we use Present Perfect E.g. I have lost my bag (Focus on Present). Whereas, when focus is in the past, use Past. E.g. I lost my bag (Focus on Past).

  5. When we talk about travelling/residing action. In case, if we imply that I am still there or still in the place of travel then we use Present Perfect. Whereas, we use Simple past, though it would state that I went/resided/etc. It won't mean that I am still there. This is same in Japanese as well, like 行っている and 住んでいる. This last point does not need an answer.

* * *

Q1. Do the Punctual Japanese Verb (Please note I am only concerned with
Punctual Japanese Verbs) also apply the above English Grammar principles for
differentiating the use between ている (present perfect) and た/だ(Past). That is
to say, whether the Punctual Japanese Verb are used identically in the above
referred cases.

E.gs. Point 1: Will 私は明かりをつけている (Present Perfect) be used as time has not been
mentioned and 私は8時に明かりをつけた (Past) be used as time has been mentioned

Point 3: Will 私は今週新しいシャツを3枚着ている (present perfect) be used as the week has not
ended, and 私は今週新しいシャツを3枚着た (Past) be used as week ended.

Point 4: Will 私はバッグを紛失している (Present perfect) be used when we Focus in the
present. Whereas, 私はバッグを紛失している (Past) be used when the focus is in Past.

Q2. Are there any other ways to differentiate between the ている (present
perfect) form and た (past) form when we talk about Japanese Punctual Verbs?

Q3. Could anyone highlight the difference (also the difference in nuance)
between ている (present perfect) form and た (past form) in cases of Punctual
Verb!? (I have been literally struggling to differentiate between Punctual
Verbs ている form (Present Perfect) and た (Past) for over 1 month and my Japanese
Language learning has come to a halt for past 1 month, as I am not able to
differentiate between the both)

Please Note:

There are other posts but the difference highlighted is mostly pertaining to
Durative Verbs and Not Punctual Verbs, and where the concept of Punctual Verb
is highlighted, it is not dealt thoroughly and it creates lot of confusion.
So, an answer to this question might give clarity upon the individual concept
of Punctual Verbs' ている and た forms, and would also highlight the difference in
Present Perfect form in Japanese and Present Perfect Form in English.
Following are some links which though has dealt this issue but has focused
more on Durative Verbs than Punctual Verbs:

  1. [Is 寝る a stative or active verb?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/57193/is-%e5%af%9d%e3%82%8b-a-stative-or-active-verb)
  2. [Is there a distinction between ‘did" and "have done" in Japanese?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/63352/is-there-a-distinction-between-did-and-have-done-in-japanese/63358#63358)
  3. [When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3122/when-is-v%e3%81%a6%e3%81%84%e3%82%8b-the-continuation-of-action-and-when-is-it-the-continuation-of-state?noredirect=1&lq=1)
  4. [Why is a verb in the past (た形) contradicted with ～ていない?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/42242/why-is-a-verb-in-the-past-%e3%81%9f%e5%bd%a2-contradicted-with-%ef%bd%9e%e3%81%a6%e3%81%84%e3%81%aa%e3%81%84/42343#comment129100_42343)




I understand this is difficult. As an English learner, I read the _English_
grammar rules you cited more than 20 years ago, and I still often wonder how
to correctly use the past tense and the present perfect in English :) This
takes a very long time, so don't let this halt your studying of Japanese. The
good news is た and ている are often interchangeable, as shown below.

English present perfect and Japanese ている are different in several ways.

> Where time is used or the focus is on the time, use Simple Past

This is not true in Japanese. We can safely say 昨日は23時に寝ているよ as a response to
"You look sleepy". This is related to the bullet 4; the action was performed
in the past, but the focus is in present (i.e., why I look sleepy _now_ ).

> When you tell about life experience and travelling experiences, use Present
> Perfect.

This is true in English, but Japanese has a dedicated construction for this
(～たことがある). For example "Have you (ever) seen fireworks?" is
(今までに)花火を見たことがありますか. ( **EDIT** : You can still say 今までに3回花火を見ている describing
your past experience, but ～たことがある is more common, and ～ている sounds like this
fact is relevant in the current situation.)

> 今週新しいシャツを3枚着ている vs 今週新しいシャツを3枚着た

The former is said in the following situations:

  1. when you're still in the middle of the week and you'll probably wear more shirts until the week ends
  2. when the week already ended but this fact is somehow closely related to something in present

The second one is tricky. Although you have said [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42242/5010) is irrelevant, I
think this one is closely related to your concern. In particular, please read
the survey result in the PDF file I introduced (it's in Japanese, so please
read the survey on pages 4 and 5). ている/た are often interchangeable and the
distinction is closely related to the speaker's mood, or how much this fact is
related to the current situation. [This
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/11925/5010) about the "habitual
aspect" is closely related, too ("it's **how close you are feeling the action
is** on your mind.").




I understand this is difficult. As an English learner, I read the _English_
grammar rules you cited more than 20 years ago, and I still often wonder how
to correctly use the past tense and the present perfect in English :) This
takes a very long time, so don't let this halt your studying of Japanese. The
good news is た and ている are often interchangeable, as shown below.

English present perfect and Japanese ている are different in several ways.

> Where time is used or the focus is on the time, use Simple Past

This is not true in Japanese. We can safely say 昨日は23時に寝ているよ as a response to
"You look sleepy". This is related to the bullet 4; the action was performed
in the past, but the focus is in present (i.e., why I look sleepy _now_ ).

> When you tell about life experience and travelling experiences, use Present
> Perfect.

This is true in English, but Japanese has a dedicated construction for this
(～たことがある). For example "Have you (ever) seen fireworks?" is
(今までに)花火を見たことがありますか. ( **EDIT** : You can still say 今までに3回花火を見ている describing
your past experience, but ～たことがある is more common, and ～ている sounds like this
fact is relevant in the current situation.)

> 今週新しいシャツを3枚着ている vs 今週新しいシャツを3枚着た

The former is said in the following situations:

  1. when you're still in the middle of the week and you'll probably wear more shirts until the week ends
  2. when the week already ended but this fact is somehow closely related to something in present

The second one is tricky. Although you have said [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42242/5010) is irrelevant, I
think this one is closely related to your concern. In particular, please read
the survey result in the PDF file I introduced (it's in Japanese, so please
read the survey on pages 4 and 5). ている/た are often interchangeable and the
distinction is closely related to the speaker's mood, or how much this fact is
related to the current situation. [This
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/11925/5010) about the "habitual
aspect" is closely related, too ("it's **how close you are feeling the action
is** on your mind.").

