Te Imasu (～ています): How to Say “I’m Doing” in Japanese

Your friend messages you: “What are you doing?” You want to answer I’m studying Japanese. A useful Japanese pattern is:

The short answer

The important part is ～ています (te imasu). For this lesson, focus on one practical use: a verb in its て-form (te-form) + います (imasu) describes an action in progress. It lets you say things such as these:

1. たべていますTabete imasu.I’m eating.
2. みていますMite imasu.I’m watching.
3. べんきょうしていますBenkyou shite imasu.I’m studying.

Use it for something happening right now

Imagine someone calls while you are eating. They ask what you are doing, and you answer with the action that is already underway:

1. なにをしていますかNani o shite imasu ka.What are you doing?
2. ごはんをたべていますGohan o tabete imasu.I’m eating.

Compare the ordinary polite form, which describes a habit or a plan, with the ～ています form:

1. たべますTabemasu.I eat. / I will eat.
2. たべていますTabete imasu.I’m eating.

If you are sitting at the table with food in front of you and the action is happening now, たべています (tabete imasu) gives the listener that in-progress meaning.

Build ～ています from the て-form

The basic shape is [verb in て-form] + います (imasu). Take たべます (tabemasu), “eat.” Its て-form is たべて (tabete). Add います (imasu) and you get:

In the same way, みます (mimasu), “watch / see,” becomes みて (mite), and then:

In everyday speech, the final す (su) of います (imasu) is usually very light, so you will often hear something close to “tabete imas.” For more on this, see How to Pronounce Desu and Masu in Japanese.

You do not attach ています (te imasu) to the full ます (masu) form. This is wrong:

Use the verb’s て-form first: たべて (tabete) + います (imasu) gives you the correct form:

You may already have met a て-form without noticing. In ちょっとまってください (chotto matte kudasai), “Please wait a moment,” the まって (matte) is the て-form of まちます (machimasu), “wait.”

One more note on います (imasu): it is the same verb you use to say that a person or animal is somewhere, as in How to Say “There Is” in Japanese: あります and います. In ～ています (te imasu), it works as a helper verb, so たべています (tabete imasu) simply means “I’m eating.”

Learn the first て-forms as pairs

The て-form of every verb is not made by simply removing ます (masu) and adding て (te), so you will need to learn common て-form changes. For now, learn frequent forms as complete pairs, then add います (imasu):

• たべます (tabemasu), eat: the て-form is たべて (tabete)
• みます (mimasu), watch: the て-form is みて (mite)
• のみます (nomimasu), drink: the て-form is のんで (nonde)
• します (shimasu), do: the て-form is して (shite)

The pattern is called the て-form (te-form), but some verbs end in で (de) instead of て (te). で is simply て with the two small dakuten marks; see Japanese Dakuten if those marks are new.

You saw that the て-form of のみます (nomimasu) is のんで (nonde), so “I’m drinking” keeps that で:

It is not built from the ます stem:

Another common example is よみます (yomimasu), “read,” which becomes よんで (yonde):

1. ほんをよんでいますHon o yonde imasu.I’m reading a book.
2. よんでいますYonde imasu.I’m reading.

Do not change the で (de) back to て (te). This form is wrong:

Say what you are doing

Studying

Imagine you are doing your Japanese homework. You can say:

Each part has a job:

• にほんご (nihongo): Japanese
• を (o): marks what you are studying (for how を differs from で (de), see を vs で (o vs de) in Japanese)
• べんきょうしています (benkyou shite imasu): am studying

The verb expression comes at the end, as explained in Basic Japanese Sentence Order: Put the Action at the End:

The line is just a visual guide. Real Japanese is written without spaces or dividers; see Why Are There No Spaces in Japanese?

If everyone already knows you are talking about yourself, you do not need to add わたし (watashi), “I.” Japanese often leaves it out, as explained in Why Japanese Drops “I” and “You”.

So the practical answer to “What are you doing?” can simply be the sentence without わたし:

Watching

Your friend asks what you are doing, and you are watching anime. Compare the habit or plan with the action happening now:

1. アニメをみていますAnime o mite imasu.I’m watching anime.
2. アニメをみますAnime o mimasu.I watch anime. / I’ll watch anime.
3. アニメをみていますAnime o mite imasu.I’m watching anime.

The second sentence presents the watching as in progress.

If someone messages you during an episode, みています (mite imasu) is the useful form.

Drinking

Suppose you are drinking coffee, コーヒー (koohii). The ー mark makes the vowel before it longer; see Japanese Long Vowels if you want to practise that sound.

The polite verb is のみます (nomimasu), “drink,” and its て-form is のんで (nonde), so:

Ask and answer “What are you doing?”

One of the most useful questions with this pattern is なにをしていますか:

なに (nani) means “what,” して (shite) is the て-form of します (shimasu), “do,” and the か (ka) at the end makes it a question, as in How to Ask Questions in Japanese with か.

You can answer with whatever is happening now:

1. べんきょうしていますBenkyou shite imasu.I’m studying.
2. ごはんをたべていますGohan o tabete imasu.I’m eating.
3. ほんをよんでいますHon o yonde imasu.I’m reading a book.
4. アニメをみていますAnime o mite imasu.I’m watching anime.

This makes なにをしていますか (nani o shite imasu ka) a useful pattern for practising many verbs instead of memorizing one fixed response.

In a real exchange, your friend calls and asks, you answer, and they react:

1. Aいま、なにをしていますかIma, nani o shite imasu ka.What are you doing now?
2. BにほんごをべんきょうしていますNihongo o benkyou shite imasu.I’m studying Japanese.
3. AそうですかSou desu ka.Oh, I see.

Here そうですか (sou desu ka) is a reaction, not a real question. Said with a falling tone, it means “Oh, I see.”

Later, you are eating, and your friend asks the same question. Only your answer changes:

1. AなにをしていますかNani o shite imasu ka.What are you doing?
2. BごはんをたべていますGohan o tabete imasu.I’m eating.

The grammar stays the same. You replace the action.

Compare ～ます, ～たいです and ～ています

Suppose someone asks what you generally do in the morning. You might describe your routine with the ordinary form:

Now imagine they call while you have a cup in your hand. You describe the action in progress:

The difference is in the ending: のみます (nomimasu) is “drink / will drink,” and のんでいます (nonde imasu) is “am drinking.” Reading shows the same contrast:

1. ほんをよみますHon o yomimasu.I read books. / I’ll read a book.
2. ほんをよんでいますHon o yonde imasu.I’m reading a book.

For the use in this lesson, ～ています (te imasu) puts you inside the ongoing action.

You may already know ～たいです (tai desu), “want to do,” from How to Say “I Want to…” in Japanese: ～たいです.

Compare wanting to do something with already doing it:

1. にほんごをべんきょうしたいですNihongo o benkyou shitai desu.I want to study Japanese.
2. にほんごをべんきょうしていますNihongo o benkyou shite imasu.I’m studying Japanese.

The first describes what you want to do; the second describes what you are doing. Wanting an action and being in the middle of it are different.

～ています does more than “right now”

There is an important limitation to the simple rule. You will meet ～ています (te imasu) in sentences that English does not translate with “am doing right now.”

For example, Japanese can use this form for ongoing states, repeated activities, occupations, and the result of a change. Here are three you may meet early:

1. まいにちコーヒーをのんでいますMainichi koohii o nonde imasu.I drink coffee every day. (a habit)
2. レストランではたらいていますResutoran de hataraite imasu.I work at a restaurant. (an occupation)
3. けっこんしていますKekkon shite imasu.I’m married. (the result of getting married)

So this rule is wrong, and you should not memorize it: “～ています (te imasu) always equals English ‘-ing.’”

That rule will eventually fail. For now, use this narrower one: When an ordinary action is visibly or clearly happening right now, ～ています (te imasu) is a useful pattern for describing it. That gives you something reliable to produce while leaving room for the other uses you will learn later.

Common mistakes

Answering “What are you doing now?” with the ordinary form

Imagine someone asks what you are doing now:

You answer with the ordinary form:

As an answer to this question, よみます (yomimasu) sounds like a habit or a plan, “I read books” or “I’ll read a book,” rather than the intended “I’m reading a book.”

For the action happening now, use ～ています instead:

The word いま (ima), “now,” makes the in-progress situation especially clear.

Keeping ます before ています

Do not build the form by putting たべます (tabemasu) and ています (te imasu) together. This is incorrect:

Instead, start with the て-form, たべて (tabete), then add います (imasu):

Likewise, each verb changes to its て-form first, and then takes います (imasu):

• みます (mimasu) becomes みて (mite), so you say みています (mite imasu), “I’m watching.”
• のみます (nomimasu) becomes のんで (nonde), so you say のんでいます (nonde imasu), “I’m drinking.”
• よみます (yomimasu) becomes よんで (yonde), so you say よんでいます (yonde imasu), “I’m reading.”
• します (shimasu) becomes して (shite), so you say しています (shite imasu), “I’m doing.”

The middle form, the て-form, is what matters.

Practise ～ています

Choose the sentence that matches the situation

Your friend calls while you are eating. Which answer best expresses “I’m eating”?

1. A. たべたいですA. Tabetai desu.A. I want to eat.
2. B. たべていますB. Tabete imasu.B. I’m eating.
3. C. たべませんC. Tabemasen.C. I don’t eat. / I won’t eat.

Answer: B. たべています (tabete imasu). It describes the action in progress. たべたいです (tabetai desu) means “I want to eat.”

たべません (tabemasen) means “I don’t eat / won’t eat”; see How to Say “I Don’t” in Japanese: ～ません.

Complete the pattern

For each verb, use the て-form shown, then add います (imasu). Say your answer before you read it.

1. たべます (tabemasu), “eat”: the て-form is たべて (tabete).
2. みます (mimasu), “watch”: the て-form is みて (mite).
3. のみます (nomimasu), “drink”: the て-form is のんで (nonde).
4. よみます (yomimasu), “read”: the て-form is よんで (yonde).
5. します (shimasu), “do”: the て-form is して (shite).

Answers

1. たべていますTabete imasu.I’m eating.
2. みていますMite imasu.I’m watching.
3. のんでいますNonde imasu.I’m drinking.
4. よんでいますYonde imasu.I’m reading.
5. していますShite imasu.I’m doing (it).

Build the sentence

Suppose you are watching anime right now. Start with みます (mimasu), “watch,” change it to the て-form, みて (mite), and add います (imasu):

Then add what you are watching:

Try another one. You are reading a book. Start with よみます (yomimasu), “read.” The て-form is よんで (yonde); add います (imasu), then the book:

1. よんでいますYonde imasu.I’m reading.
2. ほんをよんでいますHon o yonde imasu.I’m reading a book.

Answer for yourself

Read the question aloud:

Then choose an answer that fits what you might be doing:

1. ごはんをたべていますGohan o tabete imasu.I’m eating.
2. コーヒーをのんでいますKoohii o nonde imasu.I’m drinking coffee.
3. ほんをよんでいますHon o yonde imasu.I’m reading a book.
4. アニメをみていますAnime o mite imasu.I’m watching anime.
5. にほんごをべんきょうしていますNihongo o benkyou shite imasu.I’m studying Japanese.

Now stop looking at the examples and ask yourself the question aloud:

Then answer with something you are actually doing. The goal is not just to recognize ～ています (te imasu). It is to retrieve it when you need to describe your own situation.

If talking to yourself feels strange, How to Practise Speaking Japanese Without a Partner has more ways to make it a habit, and How to Stop Freezing When Speaking Japanese can help when the words do not come.

Keep this in mind

When an action is happening right now, start with [verb in て-form] + います (imasu). たべて (tabete) + います (imasu), みて (mite) + います (imasu) and よんで (yonde) + います (imasu) become:

1. たべていますTabete imasu.I’m eating.
2. みていますMite imasu.I’m watching.
3. よんでいますYonde imasu.I’m reading.

And one of the most useful questions is:

Do not reduce ～ています (te imasu) to “Japanese -ing” forever. It has other uses. But for your first practical use, remember this: If an ordinary action is underway right now, ～ています (te imasu) lets you describe that action while it is happening.

Continue learning

Before building longer sentences, review how Japanese places the action at the end in Basic Japanese Sentence Order: Put the Action at the End.

If you want to say what you want to do rather than what you are doing now, continue with How to Say “I Want to…” in Japanese: ～たいです.

For another action pattern, learn how to say you are going somewhere to do something in How to Say “I’m Going to…” in Japanese: 〜にいきます.