Dictionary form of verb to indicate progressive actions or actions in progress?


I've always interpreted the plain/present affirmative of a verb (e.g. 行く/行きます）
as either

A.) an action that I will do in the future 図書館に行きます "I will go to the library"

B.) an action that I habitually do. よくテレビを見る "I often watch T.V."

～ている conjugations can for a variety of verbs translate as having an enduring
state or state which is a result of change

Example

>   * 僕の友達はヨーロッパに行っている → "My friend is gone to Europe"
>   * ドアが開いている → "The door is open"
>   * 僕は結婚してる → "I'm married"
>

For verbs of this nature which do not have an "action in progress"
interpretation from the ~ている conjugation, is it possible to interpret the
plain/present affirmative of a verb as an action in progress/event currently
taking place as well?

Examples

>   * 今僕の友達はヨーロッパに行く → "My friend is going to Europe now" (As in an action in
> progress, he's on the plane on his way there)
>   * ドアが開く → "The door is opening" (Door is actively in the process of
> opening)
>   * 僕は結婚します → "I'm getting married" (In the process of completing wedding
> arrangements and so on)
>

Are these interpretations correct? If not is there some other method in order
to express those type of sentences? Any insight or clarifications would be
greatly appreciated.

Thanks!




The answer is basically no. You can express any progressive actions with
(adverbal form) + つつある, which was created to translate exactly English
progressive forms, though it's not frequently used in everyday conversation.

Speaking how to translate the examples you suggested to common expressions,

  1. "My friend is going to Europe now"：私の友達は今ヨーロッパへ向かっている
  2. "The door is opening"：ドアが開くところだ / ドアが開く (= The door is about to open)

If you find #2 inaccurate (though it depends how you define "open", fully or
partially), you can still use 開いている for that usage (and 行っている for #1), or
開いていっている. As for "I'm getting married", I'm not sure if it's an natural
expression to begin with. So, I'd suggest 結婚しつつある.




The answer is basically no. You can express any progressive actions with
(adverbal form) + つつある, which was created to translate exactly English
progressive forms, though it's not frequently used in everyday conversation.

Speaking how to translate the examples you suggested to common expressions,

  1. "My friend is going to Europe now"：私の友達は今ヨーロッパへ向かっている
  2. "The door is opening"：ドアが開くところだ / ドアが開く (= The door is about to open)

If you find #2 inaccurate (though it depends how you define "open", fully or
partially), you can still use 開いている for that usage (and 行っている for #1), or
開いていっている. As for "I'm getting married", I'm not sure if it's an natural
expression to begin with. So, I'd suggest 結婚しつつある.

