Japanese

<p>
	The <strong>present continuous</strong> verb tense (or <strong>present progressive</strong>) connotes an action that is ongoing/has not been completed. 
	<strong>They are eating lunch</strong> is an example of a sentence using this verb tense.
	In Japanese, verbs are conjugated to the present continuous with the pattern <strong>て-form + いる</strong>.
</p>

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<p>
	The <strong>present continuous</strong> can be negated by negating the <strong>いる</strong> ending. 
</p>

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<p>
	The <strong>past continuous</strong> is formed by simply putting the <strong>いる</strong> ending in the past tense.
</p>

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<p>
	You will find that the present continuous is often used in situations in Japanese where it would not be used in English and vice-versa.
	One of the most common examples of this is with the verb <strong><ruby>知<rt>し</rt></ruby>る</strong>, which means <strong>to know</strong>.
	When making sentences like <strong>I know the answer</strong> or <strong>What do you know about computers?</strong>,
	you normally use the present continuous in Japanese. 
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<p>
	Sometimes the present continuous is even used for actions that are already completed.
	For example, this is the case with the verbs <strong>行く</strong> and <strong>来る</strong>.
</p>

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The present continuous and past continuous

hiragana character

kanji

adnominal

adverb

auxiliary

conjunction

compound

i-adjective

interjection

noun

na-adjective

numeral

particle

case particle

conjunctive particle

discourse particle

prefix

pronoun

suffix

verb

sentence

hiragana writing

kanji writing

kanji component

reading vocabulary

katakana writing

katakana character

godan - group 1

itidan - group 2

group 3

transitive

intransitive

proper noun

discourse

phrase

expression

Word	ジョン　は　日に本ほん　で　空から手て　を　習ならって　いました。 zyon ha nihon de karate wo naratte imasita.
Meaning	Jon was learning Karate in Japan
Part of speech	sentence
Pronunciation

topic particle	は ha
Japan	日に本ほん nihon
direct object particle	を wo
location particle (for events and actions)	で de
John	ジョン zyon
learn	習ならう narau
karate	空から手て karate

Japanese

zyon ha nihon de karate wo naratte imasita.

Breakdown of zyon ha nihon de karate wo naratte imasita.

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