When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?


Last night, when I asked my wife to send an email to me, she said もう送っている
which I took to mean that she was "sending the message". (The message had a
big attachment so I imagined that it could take a few minutes to be sent.)
What I later realized is that in this context 送っている meant that "the message
has been sent". I thought that Vている is the same as a progressive or -ing form
in English. According to my wife, if she wanted to say she was sending the
message it would have been, 送っているところ.

Is it true that the 送っている always means **continuation of state** (ie. "has
been sent") or does it depend on the context? Other verbs in the Vている form
(for example 食べている) seem to mean **continuation of action** (ie. "eating").
Does the meaning of Vている change depending on the verb it's used with? Can we
divide every verb into a "continuation of state" or a "continuation of action"
category or is it more complicated?

Finally, where does てある fit into all of this. From my textbook grammar, I
would have thought 送ってある would be the correct phrase for "it has been sent".

Related question: [If Vて+いる isn't a gerund, then what is
it?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/1363/if-v-isnt-a-gerund-
then-what-is-it)




The key to understanding this difference in **aspect** (not tense) lies in
knowing what kind of verb we're dealing with. For verbs that describe actions
(食【た】べる, 走【はし】る, etc) and events (降【ふ】る, 吹【ふ】く, etc), ～ている shows the
continuation of an action. For verbs that describe changes in state (死【し】ぬ,
割【わ】れる, 溶【と】ける, etc), ～ている shows the continuation of a state.

Another way to conceptualize this is the idea that action/event verbs can take
place over a length of time, while change-in-state verbs often happen
instantaneously.

There are some diagrams on [page 54 of this
book](http://books.google.com/books?id=l-C4H2sBJlEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA55#v=onepage&q&f=false)
that help a little. I will redraw two of them here (with some modifications)
for the sake of convenience:

### Type 1: action/event verbs

![Diagram for 食【た】べている](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uTwq9.png)

### Type 2: change-in-state verbs

![Diagram for 割【わ】れている](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RKolD.png)

So where does 送【おく】る fit in? We might be tempted to think that 送【おく】る is an
action verb, and in a sense it is, as it is transitive and takes a direct
object. But 送【おく】る shows an instantaneous change in state: a change from _not-
sent_ to _sent_. This is why 送【おく】っている means "I have sent [it]."

"Ah," you say, "but there are change-in-state verbs that happen over a length
of time. How do we deal with those?" Let's look at 溶【と】ける:

> アイスが **溶【と】けている** よ。はやく食【た】べなさい。 Your ice cream **is melting**. Hurry up and
> eat it.
>
> アイスが **溶【と】けちゃう** よ。はやく食【た】べなさい。 Your ice cream **will melt away**. Hurry up
> and eat it.
>
> うわぁ、アイスがぜんぶ **溶【と】けている** 。どうしよう？ Woah, the ice cream **has** all **melted**.
> What should we do?
>
> 友【とも】だちとしゃべっている間【あいだ】に、アイスが **溶【と】けちゃった** 。 My ice cream **melted away**
> while I was chatting with a friend.

溶【と】ける is one of those pesky verbs that doesn't fit into just one of our
categories above. It could be taken as either an event verb or a change-in-
state verb. So 溶【と】けている could be taken as "is melting" or "has melted",
depending on the context. Verbs such as 死【し】ぬ, however, show only an
instantaneous change in state. 死【し】んでいる always means "has died", and not "is
dying".

"But!" you say, not wishing to be denied any chance for objection, "What about
using ～ている with expressions of frequency?" This is where ～ている doesn't line up
with any of our nice English translations:

> 古【ふる】くなった細胞【さいぼう】は毎日【まいにち】 **死【し】んでいる** 。 Old cells **die** every day. (not
> _are dying_ or _have died_ )
>
> 毎週【まいしゅう】大阪【おおさか】に **行【い】っている** 。 I **go** to Osaka every week. (not _am
> going_ or _have gone_ )

This could be interpreted as a use of progressive aspect, but translating it
into English with an _-ing_ verb form doesn't work grammatically.

## Movement verbs

Verbs like 行【い】く, 来【く】る, and 帰【かえ】る, which deal with movement from one point
to another, look like action verbs on the surface, but in their ～ている forms,
they work more like change-in-state verbs:

> 彼【かれ】は日本【にほん】に **行【い】っている** 。 He **has gone** to Japan. (He went to Japan,
> and is still there.)
>
> お父【とう】さんはまだ **帰【かえ】っていない** 。 Dad **hasn't come home** yet. (He may be on the
> way home, but the change in state from _not-home_ to _home_ hasn't happened
> yet.)

## ～ところ

There are times when you want to take a change-in-state verb and "zoom in" on
the point when the change takes place to treat it like a continuous-action
verb. This is what ～ところ is for:

> 送【おく】るところだ。 I am just about to send it.
>
> 送【おく】っているところだ。 I am sending it right now. (implies that the speaker has her
> finger on the button for "Send")
>
> 送【おく】ったところだ。 I just sent it.

Naturally, ところ can also mean "place", so you might have to do some contextual
sleuthing to figure out which is meant:

> ビルが **崩壊【ほうかい】している** ところを見【み】た。 I saw the building as it **was collapsing**.
> (note ～ている in Japanese, _was_ in English!)
>
> 道路【どうろ】の **崩壊【ほうかい】している** ところを直【なお】す。 We will repair the places where the
> road **has collapsed**.

～つつある, attaching to the ～ます stem (壊【こわ】れつつある), can be used like ～ところ, but is
more common in writing than in speech.

## ～てある

The main difference between ～ている and ～てある (aside from the fact that ～てある
requires a transitive verb, which I'm sure you already know), is that ～てある
**implies the existence of an actor who performs the action for some
purpose**. ～ている, on the other hand, has no such implication, and reads as
though the action occurred with no particular purpose. Thus we can draw the
following contrast:

> ○ 寒【さむ】いので、窓【まど】が閉【し】めてあります。 It's cold, so the window has been closed.
>
> × 寒【さむ】いので、窓【まど】が閉【し】まっています。 ~~It's cold, so the window is closed.~~
> (incorrect)

Suppose, however, you walk into a room with an open window, and you have no
idea whether the window was opened for some purpose. In this case, ～てある is
incorrect:

> ○ あ、窓【まど】が開【あ】いている。 Ah, the window is open.
>
> × あ、窓【まど】が開【あ】けてある。 ~~Ah, the window has been opened.~~ (incorrect)




The key to understanding this difference in **aspect** (not tense) lies in
knowing what kind of verb we're dealing with. For verbs that describe actions
(食【た】べる, 走【はし】る, etc) and events (降【ふ】る, 吹【ふ】く, etc), ～ている shows the
continuation of an action. For verbs that describe changes in state (死【し】ぬ,
割【わ】れる, 溶【と】ける, etc), ～ている shows the continuation of a state.

Another way to conceptualize this is the idea that action/event verbs can take
place over a length of time, while change-in-state verbs often happen
instantaneously.

There are some diagrams on [page 54 of this
book](http://books.google.com/books?id=l-C4H2sBJlEC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA55#v=onepage&q&f=false)
that help a little. I will redraw two of them here (with some modifications)
for the sake of convenience:

### Type 1: action/event verbs

![Diagram for 食【た】べている](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uTwq9.png)

### Type 2: change-in-state verbs

![Diagram for 割【わ】れている](https://i.stack.imgur.com/RKolD.png)

So where does 送【おく】る fit in? We might be tempted to think that 送【おく】る is an
action verb, and in a sense it is, as it is transitive and takes a direct
object. But 送【おく】る shows an instantaneous change in state: a change from _not-
sent_ to _sent_. This is why 送【おく】っている means "I have sent [it]."

"Ah," you say, "but there are change-in-state verbs that happen over a length
of time. How do we deal with those?" Let's look at 溶【と】ける:

> アイスが **溶【と】けている** よ。はやく食【た】べなさい。 Your ice cream **is melting**. Hurry up and
> eat it.
>
> アイスが **溶【と】けちゃう** よ。はやく食【た】べなさい。 Your ice cream **will melt away**. Hurry up
> and eat it.
>
> うわぁ、アイスがぜんぶ **溶【と】けている** 。どうしよう？ Woah, the ice cream **has** all **melted**.
> What should we do?
>
> 友【とも】だちとしゃべっている間【あいだ】に、アイスが **溶【と】けちゃった** 。 My ice cream **melted away**
> while I was chatting with a friend.

溶【と】ける is one of those pesky verbs that doesn't fit into just one of our
categories above. It could be taken as either an event verb or a change-in-
state verb. So 溶【と】けている could be taken as "is melting" or "has melted",
depending on the context. Verbs such as 死【し】ぬ, however, show only an
instantaneous change in state. 死【し】んでいる always means "has died", and not "is
dying".

"But!" you say, not wishing to be denied any chance for objection, "What about
using ～ている with expressions of frequency?" This is where ～ている doesn't line up
with any of our nice English translations:

> 古【ふる】くなった細胞【さいぼう】は毎日【まいにち】 **死【し】んでいる** 。 Old cells **die** every day. (not
> _are dying_ or _have died_ )
>
> 毎週【まいしゅう】大阪【おおさか】に **行【い】っている** 。 I **go** to Osaka every week. (not _am
> going_ or _have gone_ )

This could be interpreted as a use of progressive aspect, but translating it
into English with an _-ing_ verb form doesn't work grammatically.

## Movement verbs

Verbs like 行【い】く, 来【く】る, and 帰【かえ】る, which deal with movement from one point
to another, look like action verbs on the surface, but in their ～ている forms,
they work more like change-in-state verbs:

> 彼【かれ】は日本【にほん】に **行【い】っている** 。 He **has gone** to Japan. (He went to Japan,
> and is still there.)
>
> お父【とう】さんはまだ **帰【かえ】っていない** 。 Dad **hasn't come home** yet. (He may be on the
> way home, but the change in state from _not-home_ to _home_ hasn't happened
> yet.)

## ～ところ

There are times when you want to take a change-in-state verb and "zoom in" on
the point when the change takes place to treat it like a continuous-action
verb. This is what ～ところ is for:

> 送【おく】るところだ。 I am just about to send it.
>
> 送【おく】っているところだ。 I am sending it right now. (implies that the speaker has her
> finger on the button for "Send")
>
> 送【おく】ったところだ。 I just sent it.

Naturally, ところ can also mean "place", so you might have to do some contextual
sleuthing to figure out which is meant:

> ビルが **崩壊【ほうかい】している** ところを見【み】た。 I saw the building as it **was collapsing**.
> (note ～ている in Japanese, _was_ in English!)
>
> 道路【どうろ】の **崩壊【ほうかい】している** ところを直【なお】す。 We will repair the places where the
> road **has collapsed**.

～つつある, attaching to the ～ます stem (壊【こわ】れつつある), can be used like ～ところ, but is
more common in writing than in speech.

## ～てある

The main difference between ～ている and ～てある (aside from the fact that ～てある
requires a transitive verb, which I'm sure you already know), is that ～てある
**implies the existence of an actor who performs the action for some
purpose**. ～ている, on the other hand, has no such implication, and reads as
though the action occurred with no particular purpose. Thus we can draw the
following contrast:

> ○ 寒【さむ】いので、窓【まど】が閉【し】めてあります。 It's cold, so the window has been closed.
>
> × 寒【さむ】いので、窓【まど】が閉【し】まっています。 ~~It's cold, so the window is closed.~~
> (incorrect)

Suppose, however, you walk into a room with an open window, and you have no
idea whether the window was opened for some purpose. In this case, ～てある is
incorrect:

> ○ あ、窓【まど】が開【あ】いている。 Ah, the window is open.
>
> × あ、窓【まど】が開【あ】けてある。 ~~Ah, the window has been opened.~~ (incorrect)

