11096
What suffix would be added to the end of a verb to make as it is being done
(I'm eating), or that it has been done (I have eaten, I've ate). For example
私は **食べる** , or I eat, 食べる would be converted into what to make it, I have
eaten and I'm eating?
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2013-01-31T03:47:09.683
11094
2013-01-31T13:58:38.540
2013-01-31T07:14:45.270
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question
suffixes tense
What suffix do you add to a verb to make it perfective or imperfective?
In general, trying to translate specific sentences from English into Japanese
isn't the best way to learn Japanese grammar (although it can be part of a
greater experience). Japanese grammar doesn't work exactly the same as English
grammar and has different "building blocks", so things don't always translate
directly over. Nevertheless, here are how you would do the progressive and
perfect in Japanese.

## Progressive

The progressive aspect in English has a pretty direct equivalent in Japanese.
Namely, it is the 〜て form of the verb followed by the auxiliary verb いる (note,
the い is commonly dropped). In the case of たべる it would be たべている.

Here is a full derivation for たべる (tabe-ru):

> `taberu` in progressive aspect  
>  = {progressive == 〜て form + いる}  
>  (`taberu`'s 〜て form)`iru`  
>  = {て form == verb stem + て}  
>  `tabeteiru`

Here is a derivation of something with an uglier 〜て form for fun, かく (kak-u):

> `kaku` in progressive aspect  
>  = {progressive == 〜て form + いる}  
>  (`kaku`'s 〜て form)`iru`  
>  = {て form == verb stem + て}  
>  *`kakteiru`  
>  = {k+consonant == i+consonant (イ音便)}  
>  `kaiteiru`

## Perfect

The perfect aspect in English is one of those things that does not have a
direct equivalent in Japanese grammar. So, to figure out how to translate the
perfect, we need to break down what the perfect is used for in English by
meaning:

  * **To denote something that happened before now.** In this case, "I have eaten" is semantically equivalent to "I ate" in English. In Japanese, we use the past tense for this: たべた. The past tense in Japanese is to add 〜た to the stem, which generally requires phonological corrections for -u verbs, just like with the 〜て form.

> `taberu` in past tense  
>  = {past == verb stem + た)  
>  `tabeta`
>
> `kaku` in past tense  
>  = {past == verb stem + た)  
>  *`kakta`  
>  = {k+consonant == i+consonant (イ音便)}  
>  `kaita`

  * **To denote experience with something.** For example, "I have skydived." In this case, just as you can't say "I skydived." to mean this in English, the past tense would not mean this in Japanese. Instead, we use the construction (past tense of verb)+ことがある. So in this case,

> show experience of `sukaidaibingu wo suru`  
>  = {experience == past tense + ことがある}  
>  (past tense of `sukaidaibingu wo suru`) + `koto ga aru`  
>  = {past tense of する == した}  
>  `sukaidaibingu wo shita koto ga aru`
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2013-01-31T05:09:57.967
11096
2013-01-31T13:58:38.540
2013-01-31T13:58:38.540
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answer