#actions
Hello, everybody! Today, I’m going to talk about points in times a bit.
いますand あります are pretty standard verbs and some of the first words for newbies. In a nutshell, they both mean “to exist”, where います is for animate objects and あります is for inanimate objects, or rather non-living things even including events and plans. They also have secondary meanings: います also means “[Verb]-continuously” and あります also means “to happen”. We’re going to talk about the latter meanings today, and how it relates to another verb, おきます.
おきます/おく is a verb commonly meaning “to put/place”, but it has a bunch of other meanings too. We’re going to talk about the particular meaning of “doing something in advance”.
Usually, 〜ています is taught early and alone, because it has a pretty common equivalent in English. It means to do a Verb continuously, or in simpler terms “~ing”.
すしを食べています。
[I’m] eatingsushi.
ビデオゲームをしています。
[I’m] playing a video game.
When you want to put a verb into ~ing form, you need to put the verb into its て-form and put an います at the end.
Even in English, there is a noticeable difference between “I eat sushi” and “I am eating sushi”. The former is a very general statement presented as a fact, while the latter describes the current action at a specific time. Imagine this phone conversation:
A: 「B−くん、すしが食べられますか。」
B:「はい、すしを食べます。今、すしをたべています。」
A: “B, can you eat sushi?”
B: “Yes, I eat sushi. I’m eating sushi now.”
Even unconsciously, you can see how B’s first and second statement portray different things.
Now, 〜てあります isn’t the 〜ています when it comes to inanimate things. It has a meaning that can also be applied to living beings. 〜てあります is a little difficult to explain and it’s often explained with ~ておきます. The best way I can think of explaining the two of them is that ~ておきます is to do something in advance, while 〜てあります is to create a continuous situation. Unfortunately, they’re kind of similar in usage:
パーティーのために、ケーキを買っています。
パーティーのために、ケーキを買っておきます。
パーティーのために、ケーキを買ってあります。
I threw in the first sentence just for comparison review.
I’m buying a cake for the party.
I [have presently] bought a cake in advance for the party.
I [have presently] bought a cake for the party.
I realize I have made this more confusing by putting the last two sentences in past tense when the Japanese tense is clearly present, which is why I threw in “have presently”, because while it is heavily implied in Japanese, it’s a little wordy in English, and it makes more sense this way.
The point of Sentence #2 is to describe a particular action, also emphasizing that the cake was bought prior to. This is a single moment in time. The point of Sentence #3 is to describe the situation of now having the cake, and the cake is still around. This is an ongoing moment in time. Next example:
そのレストランに行きたいから、よやくしております。
そのレストランに行きたいから、よやくしてあります。
I want to go to that restaurant, so I already made a reservation.
VS
I want to go to that restaurant, so I have a reservation.
Again, sentence 1 is describing having previously done that action of making a reservation, and sentence 2 is describing the situation of having a reservation.
So in recap:
〜ています: Used to describe an action currently being done [いま]
〜てあります: Used to describe how an action creates an ongoing situation [いまから]
~ておきます: Used to describe how an action is done in advance [あとのために]
Bonus Round time: That being said, I want to briefly go over the difference between 〜てあります and just あります.
アイスクリームがあります。
アイスクリームを買ってあります。
There is ice cream.
I have bought ice cream (which is still around).
Again, slightly different pictures. The first sentences doesn’t describe any particular action, just that ice cream is, well, here. The second sentences makes it clear that the ice cream was bought (I suppose rather than home-made or stolen), or even “There is ice cream that I bought”:
私に買われたアイスクリームがあります。
This is wordy even in Japanese, and even requires the use of passive form and descriptive verbs. The previous sentence is much less wordy and more natural.
words vs actions.
you can tell me you care, but if you act distant,uninterested,unengaged I won’t believe you. if as soon as you come over you start looking for a way to leave, don’t bother saying “I love you” on your way out. if you can’t show it, don’t say it.
you can say all the right things, but if your actions don’t match up, your words do not mean shit.
that’s all I’ve got on this for now. end rant.
- [ REQUEST ] sender walks into receiver’s room hoping to crawl in bed with them.
- [ INVITE ] receiver walks into sender’s room hoping to crawl in bed with them.
- [ SETTLE ] receiver sits in sender’s lap and proceeds to play with their hair.
- [ ALLOW ] sender sits in receiver’s lap and proceeds to play with their hair.
- [ REST ] sender places their head in receiver’s lap.
- [ RELAX ] receiver places their head in sender’s lap.
- [ EXPLORE ] sender sits in receiver’s lap and wanders their fingers across their face.
- [ MAP ] receiver sits in sender’s lap and wanders their fingers across their face.
- [ SIT ] sender straddles receiver while in bed and runs their fingers along their body while they talk.
- [ LAY ] receiver straddles sender while in bed and runs their fingers along their body while they talks.
- [ PERCH ] receiver sits on the counter while sender cooks.
- [ WATCH ] sender sits on the counter while receiver cooks.
- [ CARE ] receiver finds the sender has fallen asleep somewhere and places a blanket or jacket over them.
- [ WARM ] sender finds the receiver has fallen asleep somewhere and places a blanket or jacket over them.
- [ ESCORT ] receiver notices the sender is starting to get sleepy so they pick them up to carry them to bed.
- [ CARRIED ] sender notices receiver is starting to get sleepy so they pick them up to carry them to bed.
- [ COMFORT ] receiver sits sideways, cradled in sender’s lap.
- [ HELD ] sender sits sideways, cradled in receiver’s lap.
- [ MORNING ] receiver wakes before sender and lays on top of them.
- [ RISE ] sender wakes before receiver and lays on top of them.
- [ JOIN ] receiver is laying on the floor/ground for some reason and sender simply joins them.
- [ SHARED ] sender is laying on the floor/ground for some reason and sender simply joins them.
- [ SPLASH ] receiver purposefully runs out into the rain without an umbrella to enjoy the storm while sender watches.
- [ OBSERVE ] sender purposefully runs out into the rain without an umbrella to enjoy the storm while receiver watches.
- [ APPROACH ] receiver wakes to find sender is already out of bed so they come find them and sleepily embrace them, refusing to let go.
- [ RESOLUTE ] sender wakes to find receiver is already out of bed so they come find them and sleepily embrace them, refusing to let go.
- [ ROMANCE ] our muses kiss in the rain.
- [ WALTZ ] our muses dance together in their living room.
- [ WISH ] our muses stargaze.
- [ SUMMER ] our muses relax on a beach.
- [ WINTER ] our muses cuddle while watching a snow storm.
add + to reverse who does the action
[ attention ] for your muse to touch mine as a way of getting their attention
[ sleep ] for your muse to wake mine
[ cover ] for your muse to cover mine with a blanket or a jacket
[ lift ] for your muse to give mine a hand stepping up or over something etc.
[ kiss ] for your muse to come up to mine and kiss them without warning
[ run ] for your muse to run their fingers through mine’s hair
[ braid ] for your muse to braid mine’s hair
[ embrace ] for your muse to hold mine
[ smile ] for your muse to smile at mine from across the room
[ wave ] for your muse to gesture to mine to come closer
[ panic ] for your muse to grab mine’s arm or get behind them in a moment of danger
[ touch ] for your muse to rest their forehead against mine’s
[ weep ] for your muse to catch mine crying
[ eat ] for your muse to offer mine food
[ hit ] for your muse to attack mine
[ love ] for your muse to touch mine as a show of affection or reassurance
[ nap ] for your muse to fall asleep against mine
[ rest ] for your muse to rest their head in mine’s lap
[ look ] for your muse to catch mine staring
[ seduce ] for your muse to touch mine sexually
[ help ] for your muse to lean on mine for support
[ give ] for your muse to offer mine their arm
[ entwine ] for your muse to hold mine’s hand
[ laugh ] for your muse to laugh at something mine did
[ dance ] for your muse to dance with mine
[ sit ] for your muse to pull mine into their lap
[ yell ] for your muse to calm mine down
[ cry ] for your muse to wipe mine’s tears away
[ dream ] for your muse to wake mine from a nightmare
[ surprise ] for your muse to show up at mine’s house without explanation
[ fix ] for your muse to treat mine’s injury
[ sacrifice ] for your muse to get hurt protecting mine
[ guard ] for your muse to step between my muse and danger
[ taste ] for your muse to cook for mine
[ sing ] for your muse to sing to mine
I was asked many years ago if I had gone off of the deep end? My answer was yes! This was in regards to the entire photography industry. I had told my friend (who is a damn good photographer) how I was sick and tired of the terrible workshops available to photographers and how instead of booking clients they were more focused on selling products to other photographers. And these products were…