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This question is in response to an answer given here

[言っていた
Conjugation](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/39318/%e8%a8%80%e3%81%a3%e3%81%a6%e3%81%84%e3%81%9f-conjugation)

It is my understanding that ～ている in general is used to show that the state
reached after the verb has been initiated is continuing. This manifests itself
in English as the present progressive or the present perfect.

> 帰っている ⇒ I returned and am currently in the state of having returned.
>
> 歩いている ⇒ I started to walk and am currently in the state of walking.

Logically extending this understanding to ～ていた, I come up with it meaning that
an action occurred in the past, it continued for a period, and then the state
ended.

> 帰っていた ⇒ I returned, was in the state of having returned for a bit, and now I
> am no longer in that state.
>
> 歩いていた ⇒ I started to walk, continued for a bit, and then stopped.

Based on this understanding, I would have assumed that 死んでいた does not make
sense as it would imply that the dead person is no longer in the state of
being dead. However, the linked post includes 死んでいた (translated as "He was
dead") as an example suggesting that it is perfectly acceptable. In English,
stating "He was dead" really only makes sense if the discussion taking place
is about the past. Therefore I reason as follows.

Consider the following

> 人A: 鈴木さんを知っていますか。  
>  人B: 知っていました。
>
> vs.
>
> 人A: 鈴木さんを知っていましたか。  
>  人B: 知っていました。
>
> vs.
>
> 人A: 鈴木さんを知っていましたか。  
>  人B: 知っています。

Are these conclusions correct. If not, would you please be kind enough to
explain my errors?

  1. This states that Person B became acquainted with Suzuki at some point in the past but is currently not acquainted with him.

  2. This states that Person B became acquainted with Suzuki at some point in the past and does not make any implication about the current state of his acquaintance.

  3. This states that Person B became acquainted with Suzuki at some point in the past and is still currently acquainted with him.
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grammar て-form
Yet another question about ～ている
> <http://www.geocities.jp/niwasaburoo/24asupekuto.html> この虫は死んでいます。

This insect is dead. ... is already dead. ... has died. ... had died.

So 死んでいた must be further back in time.

was dead, was already dead, had died, had recently/already died,

but it's possible that there is a complete overlap for possible uses.

* * *

1q. 鈴木さんを知っていますか。

2q. 鈴木さんを知っていましたか。 ( Did you know ... ? )

--- These questions can (could) mean the same thing.

One would not say 1q if he's dead or gone away.

One is more likely to say 2q if he's dead or gone away.

>   1. This states that Person B became acquainted with Suzuki at some point
> in the past but is currently not acquainted with him.
>

I agree.
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> ～ている in general is used to show that the state reached after the verb has
> been initiated is continuing

The (te-form) + いる structure always refers to state at a point in time. _The
structure_ doesn't say anything about continuing or not continuing. **The
_verb_ , however, may describe an action that results in some particular
state. For these verbs, the final state is always used as the meaning for the
present tense of (te-form) + いる.**

For 帰っている, the end state involves being at the destination to which we were
returning. Another simple example could be 入っている, which describes the state of
being within.

[This wikipedia
entry](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuous_and_progressive_aspects#Japanese)
claims that it depends "on the transitivity of the verb". Intransitive verbs
seem to be the most natural fit, but an intransitive verb isn't always
resultative. For example, both 行く and 向かう are intransitive verbs, but 向かう
doesn't have a resultative state.

By choosing a similar word/phrasing that is lacking a resultative state (or
just using a different structure), we can better convey a progressive meaning.
So, to demonstrate, here are a few different ways to work around the
resultative meaning of 「彼は学校に行っている」 - "He is at school"

  * 彼は学校に行くところ - He is (in the middle of) going to school
  * 彼は学校に行く途中 - He is on the way to school
  * 彼は学校に向かっている - He is going (lit. heading towards) school

(some of these borrowed from [here](http://www.jref.com/forum/threads/itte-
iru.32288/))

Now, on to your other examples...(Note: This part is from my own intuition as
a _non-native_ speaker. I encourage any confirmation and/or corrections)

> 人A: 鈴木さんを知っていますか。
>
> 人B: 知っていました。
>
> "This states that Person B became acquainted with Suzuki at some point in
> the past but is currently not acquainted with him."

I would think Person B is saying she knew Suzuki and the rest is implied
because of the context. That is, Person B seems to have intentionally changed
tenses to avoid saying that they currently know Suzuki. If only Person B knows
that Suzuki is dead/no longer around, this also makes sense.

> 人A: 鈴木さんを知っていましたか。
>
> 人B: 知っていました。
>
> "This states that Person B became acquainted with Suzuki at some point in
> the past and does not make any implication about the current state of his
> acquaintance."

Person A is specifically asking if Person B knew her in the past (when is
unclear). Person B confirms this (and doesn't say anything specific about the
current state). Of course, if they both met up with Suzuki and Person A
initiated this conversation right after Suzuki left, it wouldn't make any
sense if Person B didn't know her anymore.

> 人A: 鈴木さんを知っていましたか。
>
> 人B: 知っています。
>
> "This states that Person B became acquainted with Suzuki at some point in
> the past and is still currently acquainted with him."

Person A is again specifically asking if Person B knew her in the past. Person
B replies with "I know her". Depending on the context of the conversation,
this could be an unnatural answer. I would imagine it would be okay if we
again assume that they both met up with Suzuki and Person A initiated this
conversation right after Suzuki left. Or, Person B could know that Suzuki is
still around/alive, while Person A does not.
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answer
When asked ～さんを知っていますか, you'd reply 知っています, not 知っていました.

A: 鈴木さんを知っていますか。  
B: 知っています。/ 知りません。

* * *

When asked ～さんを知っていましたか, you'd _normally_ reply 知っていました.

A: 鈴木さんを知っていましたか。  
B: 知っていました。/ 知りませんでした。*

～さんを知っていましたか is usually said in the sense of
～さんを[以前]{いぜん}から/[前]{まえ}から知っていましたか. You'd ask this when your interlocutor knows
that person already. For example, if an actor has become famous recently and
everybody knows him now, then you might ask ～さんを知っていましたか？ "Did you know him
(before he became famous)?" Or, you and your friend met 鈴木さん, and later that
day you might ask your friend 鈴木さんを知ってたの？"Did you know Suzuki-san (before we
met him today)?" So I'd say the 知っていました(か) means #3 "This states that Person B
became acquainted with Suzuki at some point in the past and is still currently
acquainted with him."

You'd also ask 知っていましたか or more casually 知ってた？ "(It was new to me but) Did you
know that?" when you've just heard something new to you and wonder if others
already knew it. (Compare: 知ってる？ "You know what?") For example, if you were
talking with your colleagues and one confessed 「俺、去年離婚したんだ。」 and left the
room, then another colleague would ask you 「知ってた！？」(← This actually happened
to me... my colleague said it in Kansai-ben 「俺、去年離婚してん。」 though.)

*知りませんでした (for the first person) means "I didn't know (but I know now)." When used for the third person it could have a different meaning.

* * *

> A: 鈴木さんを知っていましたか。  
>  B: 知っています。

You might also reply this way to mean 以前から知っています "I have known him for a
while." For example, some incident occurred in your town and your neighbor
鈴木さん was involved in it, then you might ask your other neighbor 鈴木さんを知ってましたか
"Did you know Suzuki-san (before the incident)?" and get a reply
ああ、(以前から)(よく)知ってますよ.

* * *

The phrase 結婚していた "~~ was married" can be used to mean まだ結婚していた "~~ was
_still_ married (at some point in the past but is not married now)" or
もう/すでに結婚していた "~~ was _already_ married (at some point in the past and is
married now)" or "~~ had already been married before some point in the past
(and may or may not be married now)".

死んでいた "~~ was dead" can just mean (その時)死んでいた "~~ was dead (at some point in
the past)", as in 私が調べたときには、確かに死んでいました。"When I checked the body, the
person/animal etc. was surely dead". It can also mean すでに/もう死んでいた "~~ was
already dead (at some point in the past and is dead now)" or "~~ had already
died (before some point in the past)".
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