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dharmapoaMemberPosts: 2

Hello, IMABI. Firstly, my english is a little broken, sorry for this.

So, the question. I have seen the form ~te iru used as past tense, in Non Non Biyori.

1. Renge: なっつん、今日のｎｅｗｓ見た？Nattsun, have you seen the news?

Ok, this the usual past tense of miru, but, then, the sisters use the negative form of ~te iru:

2. Nattsumi: 急いでだからみてない。I was rushed, I don't have seen.

     Komari: 私もみてない。I also don't have seen.

This is usual? Why they hasn't used 見なかった？

August 21, 2015 at 5:16 PM

IMABISite OwnerPosts: 1253

For 2., I would translate this is into English as "I was in a rush, and so I haven't seen it (yet)". ～ている's purpose is to show a state. If it's in the negative, it's stating that someone/something is not in a certain state. Here, the speaker has yet to see the news. So, she is in a state of having not seen the news. 見ない would sound like "I won't watch".--

 いまび

August 21, 2015 at 6:18 PM

dharmapoa

Thanks for reply.:D This verbal form is a little hard to understand.--

~dharmapoa~

August 21, 2015 at 6:40 PM

Member

IMABISite OwnerPosts: 1253

It definitely is. I don't know if you've read the lesson on it yet, but basically there are two broad yet very different usages of this pattern.

1. It is showing a progressive state.2. It is showing a continued resultant state.

The distinction is largely made by what kind of verb is being used. This distinction is made by what the verbs mean, not conjugation. For instance, the verb to day, 死ぬ (to die) falls in Category 2. Meaning, 死んでいる always means "is dead" and never "is dying". In fact, we have to say 死にかけている for that.

見ている falls into both categories and we need context to know how to interpret it.

今テレビを見ています。I'm watching tv now.

もう見てるよ。I've already seen it.

The latter could be もう見たよ, but it would make the action seem like it did not take as long.

Please feel free to ask more about this so that you fully understand!