6763
The sentence that that I heard was 頼りにしている。 Google Translate tells me that
means "I'm counting on you". My understanding of Japanese tells me "this
doesn't compute". Is there a general rule for translating にしている or している in
sentences like this? What's the general meaning of that phrase?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-10T23:27:43.757
6762
2021-12-11T07:10:57.970
2012-09-11T00:15:27.463
15
769
question
verbs phrases
What's the rule for "にしている"?
頼り is the noun form of verb 頼る (tayor-u), and here 頼り means a thing/person to
count on. Examples:

> 君だけが頼りだ。 I can only count on you.  
>  地図を頼りに家を探す look for the house with the help of a map (This example is from
> [Daijisen](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?p=%E9%A0%BC%E3%82%8A&stype=1&dtype=0&dname=0na);
> the English translation is by me.)

In general, AをBにする means “turn A into B.” Setting B=頼り, Aを頼りにする means “turn A
into ‘something to count on’,” or in more natural English, it means “count on
A.”

(Well, strictly speaking, Aを頼りにする does not turn anything into something
different, but AをBにする is used even in this case. Another example of this usage
is 遠足を楽しみにする (look forward to the picnic); see
[Daijirin](http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?enc=UTF-8&p=%E3%81%99%E3%82%8B&dtype=0&dname=0ss&stype=1),
sense 【2】[5].)

In your case, A is not specified. I am a little bit fuzzy here, but I think
that by default, 頼りにしている means あなたを頼りにしている. Therefore, Google Translate is
correct in this case: it means “I am counting on you.”
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-09-11T00:11:30.933
6763
2012-09-11T00:11:30.933
15
6762
answer
To start with, 頼りにしている does translate as "(I'm) counting on you" or "(I'm)
relying on you".

Basically in this case it's saying that the speaker is in this situation of
relying on someone for something. "I am relying on you to bring back my
library book, because otherwise I'll get a fine". It's describing the speakers
_state_.

The second point I'd like to make is that it might be easier for you to break
up 頼りにしている into components. 頼りにする is its own unit (頼む==>ます-stem + に + する).
@Tsuyoshi Ito has explained it really well.

Another grammar point is ～ている, which is really handy to know know and learn,
and it has various meanings depending on how it's used. It's basically the
て-form, plus いる which is "to be" (for living things).

* * *

In general there are two uses to describe one's state for the ～ている grammar
point. One that describes something that is happening now (drinking tea), and
the other describes something that happened in the past, and is still true in
the present (being married).

> 今はお茶を飲ん **でいます** 。 (I'm) drinking tea right now.

vs

> 田中さんは結婚し **ています** 。 Tanaka is married.

This could get a little ambiguous sometimes in a sentence like this:

> 私は日本語を勉強し **ています** 。 I'm studying Japanese (right now) / I study Japanese
> (at school)

* * *

The third use for ～ている is to describe something habitual.

> 毎日、新聞を読ん **でいます** 。 I read the paper every day.

* * *

Now, I'll leave you with a bunch of links for more information on ～ている:

  * [Wikibooks](http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Japanese/Grammar/%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B)
  * [These](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3262/does-v%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B-always-mean-an-action-already-completed) \- [JLU](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3122/when-is-v%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B-the-continuation-of-action-and-when-is-it-the-continuation-of-state) \- [Questions](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/5505/stative-verbs-%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A6%E3%81%84%E3%82%8B%E3%80%80vs%E3%80%80%EF%BD%9E%E3%81%A6%E3%81%82%E3%82%8B%E3%80%80vs%E3%80%80%EF%BD%9E%EF%BC%88%E3%82%89%EF%BC%89%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B)
  * [renshuu.org](http://www.renshuu.org/index.php?id=16&page=grammar/individual)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2012-09-11T00:20:49.103
6765
2021-12-11T07:10:57.970
2021-12-11T07:10:57.970
30454
921
6762
answer