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Words Kanji Guides About

てる Japanese meaning | Kotomora

てる

also: でる

て

る

Freq.FrequencyTop 100

Meanings

1

expression, auxiliary verb, ichidan verb

is ...-ing; has been ...-ing

colloquial

Colloquial contraction of ている, indicating an ongoing action or a continuing activity. Used in casual speech.

See also: いる

今いま、何なにしてるの？
What are you doing right now?
彼かれはまだ寝ね

てる

よ

。

He's still sleeping.

2

expression, auxiliary verb, ichidan verb

has ...-ed; is ...-ed

colloquial

Colloquial contraction of ている, indicating a continuing state resulting from a past action. Used in casual speech.

See also: いる

窓まどが開あいてる。
The window is open.
もうご飯はん食たべてる？
Have you already eaten?

Written forms

てるUsage96%
Standard kana spelling for this colloquial contraction of ている.
でるUsage4%
Voiced variant used after ん or voiced kana, as in 読んでる (よんでる).

Similar words

ている
Standard non-contracted form; used in polite or formal contexts, whereas てる is casual.
とる
Another colloquial contraction of ている, common in some dialects (e.g., Kansai). てる is more standard casual.

Etymology

Contraction of the auxiliary verb ている, formed by dropping the い. The voiced variant でる follows the same pattern from でいる.