I was wondering about **__ていました** and its use. By this I mean, is it possible
to turn a て form verb into ていました? For example, would you ever use 食べていました
instead of 食べました?

Just wondering if it is possible or necessary to use the past tense of ています
instead of the typical ました.
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2017-02-28T09:24:22.190
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2017-02-28T09:56:09.107
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question
grammar て-form subsidiary-verbs
食べていました and its use
You usually learn about いる with other subsidiary verbs such as
みる、おく、いく、くる、しまう、…

They all follow the _te_ -form of a verb, are usually written in _kana_ and
slightly change the meaning of the verb.

～ている is often translated with the progressive in English

> りんごを食べている  
>  I am eating an apple

You can think of combination of [ _te_ -form of a verb] + [subsidiary verb] as
a new verb. Conjugation is done on the subsidiary verb. For example

> past tense of _masu_ -form of いる = いました  
>  past tense of _masu_ -form of 食べて **いる** = 食べて **いました** "I was eating"
>
> past tense of _masu_ -form of 食べる = 食べ ました "I ate"

Literally いる means "to be/exist/stay", so literally, 食べて居る【いる】 means "to eat
and stay [that way]".

The fact that this literal meaning is lost makes いる a subsidiary verb. That
the literal meaning is lost is also a good reason to write いる without _kanji_.

(This is the same with other subsidiary verbs. For example, ～てみる is often
translated "to try to [verb]". Literally, 食べて見る means "to eat and see [what
happens]". This literal meaning is lost and みる as subsidiary verb is written
in _kana_.)

* * *

_N.B._ in ～ている the い is often omitted in colloquial speech/writing, e.g.

> 食べてた = 食べて **い** た "I was eating"
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2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer