ている pronunciation/internalization


How are things like ている/でいる split in terms of pronunciation? Do people
internalize/think of it as te-iru or tei-ru when speaking? (there is a small
difference in what it would sound like between those two) Or would it depend
on the meaning? (Like 食べている vs 帰っている?)




Grammatically, that いる is a [subsidiary
verb](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/18952/5010) that follows the te-
form of a verb.

So it's 食べて-いる, not 食べてい-る. If you are a beginner you can have a small pause
between て and いる when reading.

Native speakers say this almost like a single word. Regarding how native
speakers split sentences when reading very slowly, see the following questions
(but please don't go overthink it).

  * [Spaces in children's books](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/27624/5010)
  * <https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/43079/5010>

