79980
When a verb in the passive voice is used in the ている form, what nuance does
that carry?

Some examples:

> 図書館はいろいろな情報が集められています。  
>  米は特にアジアで食べられています。  
>  漢字は中国や日本などで使われています。  
>  中国からお茶が輸入されています。  
>

My interpretation is that ている is used because these are recurrent actions,
things that happen all the time, such as customs or established practices.

But this is just an intuition, so to paraphrase my question, how would
"図書館はいろいろな情報が集められています" be different from "図書館はいろいろな情報が集められます"?

Thanks in advance!
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2020-08-04T19:36:59.057
79973
2020-08-05T07:59:21.927
35229
question
grammar passive-voice
Passive voice with ている
Unlike English "to be -ing" form, Japanese ている-form can describe a habitual
action or something that is always true.

  * [Habitual aspect](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/11925/5010)

  * [When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/3122/5010)

> > 古くなった細胞は毎日 **死んでいる** 。 Old cells **die** every day. (not _are dying_ or
> _have died_ )
>>

>> 毎週大阪に **行っている** 。 I **go** to Osaka every week. (not _am going_ or _have
gone_ )

>
> This could be interpreted as a use of progressive aspect, but translating it
> into English with an _-ing_ verb form doesn't work grammatically.

This is an independent function of ている in general. Your example sentences are
simple combinations of the passive voice and this "habitual -ている". Thus, it's
more natural to translate this 使われている as "is used" rather than "is being
used". Please read the first link above for the difference between 集められます and
集められています. The first sentence can be rephrased as 図書館はいろいろな情報を集めています.

Depending on the context, (ら)れている can also be passive-progressive ("to be
being -ed"). For example:

> シマウマがライオンに食べられています。  
>  A zebra **is being eaten** by a lion.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-05T07:28:57.817
79980
2020-08-05T07:59:21.927
2020-08-05T07:59:21.927
5010
5010
79973
answer