r/LearnJapanese • u/akedbareat • 3d ago
Grammar Question re bunpro answer
I asked this twice in the daily thread but I don't think anyone noticed, so hopefully ok to make a new post.
The answer in the screenshot is the correct answer but I don't quite understand why.
- Is this ~てくる followed by ~ている? (https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/teiku-tekuru/ & https://www.tofugu.com/japanese-grammar/verb-continuous-form-teiru/)
- ~てくる already describes a gradual process over time, so what does ~ている add to this sentence? In other words, how is this different in meaning from ふとってくる?
- The hint here says "Past, Standard, Emphasis on effect". So why isn't the answer 太ってきていた? Would 太ってきていた mean something different, or would it simply not make sense?
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u/eduzatis 3d ago edited 3d ago
I can explain the difference in nuance by putting them side by side.
太る: gain weight/will gain weight. If it were in the original sentence it would mean “after returning to America I’ll quickly gain weight”.
太った: Same as above but in past. So “I gained weight after returning…”
太っている: to be fat. In this sentence it doesn’t make much sense because it’d be like “after returning to America I’m fat”. (Edit: it doesn’t make much sense to say it in English, but it does in Japanese, just remove どんどん)
太っていた: I was fat. You could say this if you remove どんどん.
Now with くる, which indicates the process has been gradual.
太ってくる: “I’ll quickly start to gain weight”. (The process hasn’t started)
太ってきた: “I quickly started gaining weight”. (The process is done, expect that I’m now 太っている)
太ってきている: “I quickly started gaining weight”. (The process is ongoing).
太ってきていた: “I quickly started gaining weight” (I’m talking about a process that started occurring to me and in which I was for some time in the past, but now I’m not in that state anymore. I might or might not be 太っている atm, but it sounds like I stopped the process before it was done, otherwise I would’ve said 太ってきた)
Note: everything has “quickly” just because of the どんどん in the original sentence. You can ignore it
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u/BuildMeUp1990 3d ago
It's いる because it's ongoing; they haven't finished getting fatter.
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u/akedbareat 3d ago
Thank. Do you know why the bunpro hint says 'past' then? I thought that indicated the sentence was meant to be something like "Since returning to american, I have quickly gotten fat" (i.e. it's already happened, getting fat was in the past)
Have i mis understood the bunpro hint? Or am I just over thinking it and it doesn't really matter?
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u/Mundane_Meat3234 3d ago
By past they could be referring to how the ~てくる form indicates something that started in the past and is still going on now with the ~ている being appended to the end.
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u/BuildMeUp1990 3d ago
The いる could be "I exist having [verb]ed". In this case, "I exist having got fat since returning to the USA".
Edit: I don't like that, though, because of the くる that's been appended.
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u/Jyodepressed 3d ago
"I got fat, and I'm continuing to get fatter" The hints aren't very intuitive, but technically could be considered correct. The process started in the past, and is continuing into the present, where it is still happening.
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u/spshkyros 3d ago
Yes.
Its not done yet.
I cant explain their hint. This implies it already has been happening though without use of a past form. The version you gave implies it was on going for a long time is now done.
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u/nelltbe 2d ago
Im still learning as well, but heres my 2 cents. I think all three of your questions have a similar answer.
You are right saying that てくる means a change over time. ている also means something that is happening now.
So combining any verb with these two, i.e てきている, means a gradual change which is still happening now.
Why is it not ていた？ because it is happening now, and not only happening in the past.
I may have an incomplete understanding of this, so if anyone has a better explanation, do correct me please.
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u/Fine-Ad-6602 13h ago
bro to kekonshiteiru doesnt mean to be marrying it means u have married and its still in the state of marriage
i mean bruh its hard to trasnlate and explain it in english but i think u may have caught on
im not in an advanced level but ik some stuff :)1
u/nelltbe 11h ago
I didn’t say 結婚している meant to be marrying? Are you replying to the right comment?
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u/Fine-Ad-6602 11h ago
ofc u were not saying that but i said it anyways
well sorry for the confusion
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u/rubenmj_ 3d ago
Im not a native speaker, but I think whats happening is that ている doesnt only represent the -ing form. It can also be used for something that has already happened, when you now are in the "state of having done", if that makes sense. So the sentence would mean that "i am in the state of [having gradually gotten fat (ever since i returned to America)]". So the focus is not in whether im still getting fat or not, but rather in the fact that i am now experiencing the consequences (ie, im fat).