How are things like ている/でいる split in terms of pronunciation? Do people
internalize/think of it as te-iru or tei-ru when speaking? (there is a small
difference in what it would sound like between those two) Or would it depend
on the meaning? (Like 食べている vs 帰っている?)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-14T07:04:31.047
43507
2017-02-15T12:24:00.937
2017-02-15T12:24:00.937
1628
19859
question
pronunciation subsidiary-verbs
ている pronunciation/internalization
Basically, "ている" and "でいる" are always pronounced as _te-iru_ and _de-iru_
respectively. However you can hear "食べている" as _tabeteiru_ and "帰っている？" as
_kaetteiru?_ without any split.

Actually we often say not "帰っている？" but "帰ってる？kaetteru?"

These variations of pronunciation don't make difference in their meaning.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-14T07:59:18.793
43509
2017-02-15T12:22:47.027
2017-02-15T12:22:47.027
1628
19219
43507
answer
Grammatically, that いる is a [subsidiary
verb](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/18952/5010) that follows the te-
form of a verb.

So it's 食べて-いる, not 食べてい-る. If you are a beginner you can have a small pause
between て and いる when reading.

Native speakers say this almost like a single word. Regarding how native
speakers split sentences when reading very slowly, see the following questions
(but please don't go overthink it).

  * [Spaces in children's books](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/27624/5010)
  * <https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/43079/5010>
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-02-15T03:52:42.777
43533
2017-02-15T03:52:42.777
2017-04-13T12:43:48.447
-1
5010
43507
answer