Confusions on usage of the past tense ていた and た to express an ongoing actions and states (namely, 'has/has been' doing something):


So, as far as I'm aware, the ていた ending can have these meanings depending on
verb used:

  1. a past continuous action and works pretty similarly to English: (彼女がシャワーを浴びている間僕は勉強していた。）

  2. a past state: (お腹が空いていた)

  3. had been doing something.

Now, these usages are confusing me and is something I've been seeing recently:

私は今まで続けてた仕事を、今年もちゃんと続けれればなって思いますね。

This is from a youtube video about new year's resolutions (will link below). I
had expected to either find 続けている or 続けてきた here, based on the usages above. It
seems like she is still doing her job and it is continuing into the now and
future, so to speak. It was translated (and I think definitely correctly) as
"well, I just hope I'll be able to continue the job I've been doing up to
now".

Similarly, I don't understand an example like this:

前から興味があったからその仕事をやらせてください。(I've been interested in that for a while so please
let me do it). Taken from my textbook.

I'm trying to think of this in terms of Japanese and not English but surely
the speakers in both sentences are 1. still doing their job now, and 2. still
have the interest. So I'm confused. This is not the first time I've seen
things like this.

Video: <https://youtu.be/7x2NBdoXuLk?t=188>




This is what I love coming to this forum as a native speaker! Interesting
valid observations to expressions that I take for granted, which in turn give
me new insights.

Both of those expressions feel completely normal and acceptable to me, but I
believe for different reasons.

続けてた is an informal speech form of 続けてきた in this sentence. I don't think 続けていた
would be quite appropriate here for the exact reason you mentioned.

前から興味があった is OK, and the past form is chosen simply because the emphasis of
the phrase is in the past, that the interest had developed some time ago,and
it is "から" that adds the continuity. Think 前は興味があった, which would mean "I used
to be interested [but not anymore]"

