Beginning Japanese for Professionals: Book 3

4 Musuko wa daigaku ni ikimasu . My son will go to college (he will become a Freshman later, but not yet.) Musuko wa daigaku ni itte imasu. My son has gone to college (and he is there now) or My son goes to college. (He is currently a college student.) Itte imasu does not mean someone is on his way to some place. Similarly, kite imasu means someone has come here (and is here) or someone comes here regularly over a period of time. Compare the two responses below. Honda-san wa imasu ka . Is Mr. Honda here? Hai, kite imasu. Yes, he is here. Ima kimasu . He’ll come soon. In casual speech, /i/ of iru or imasu often drops. Thus you have the following. Nani shite (i)ru no? What are you doing? Meeru mite (i) masu . I’m looking at e-mails. 9-1-3 Shitte iru ‘ know’ As explained in 9-2-2, the verb shiru (Group 1) is an instantaneous verb meaning ‘find out; get to know’. Its te-iru form means a state of having found out something and having knowledge of something, namely ‘know’. Although the affirmative is in the te- iru form, the negative ‘ I do not know’ is NOT in the te-iru form. Ano hito shitte imasu ka. Do you know that person? Formal: Iie, shirimasen. I don’t know. Plain: Uun, shiranai . I don’t know. Kore,shitte imashitaka. Did you know this? Formal: Iie, shirimasen deshita. No, I didn't know. Plain: Uun, shiranakatta. No, I didn’t know. Itsu shirimashita ka . When did you find out? The honorific form is gozonji , which is a noun. Gozonji desu ka. Do you know? Sensei wa gozonji ja nai desu . The teacher does not know.