Answer One:
(Posting later than I said as this accidentally grew larger than I expected.)
The main source for the explanation below is 外国人が日本語教師によくする１００の質問 however I have condensed a lot and added my own commentary and extra information where I think it makes it easier for an English speaker/non-native Japanese speaker to understand.
The Simple Version
In terms of where the bus is the sentence can be interpreted in two different ways. First, the bus is here now. Second, the bus is not here but is definitely coming this way. The first interpretation would be the default interpretation without context and the second interpretation is feasible given certain contextual hints.
This may be unexpected as many learners associate the Japanese ている form with the English present progressive (-ing form) primarily and the corresponding English present progressive phrase would mean the bus isn’t here yet, even if it is close by.
- The bus is coming. (English present progressive)
- The bus is here. (Closer to the first interpretation of the Japanese)
As for a practical answer to the question, I asked multiple natives where they thought the bus was. Everyone said they can’t say but that the bus is here/close.
Sidenote: Some of you brought up the fact that in English (and Spanish) you would imagine saying “The bus is coming” when the bus is visible. I think that is quite an interesting observation and I think the stress on the action just having happened/happening presently is quite a good shorthand link between languages. Consider the below sentences:
- おばあちゃんが来ているわよ。(Grandma is here! → Grandma has come!)
- 手紙が来ているよ。(A letter is here! → A letter came (for you)!)
In these sentences the おばあちゃん and the letter are both present already but the emphasis is on the fact it is happening now. The letter is already in hand, presumably, and not down the road. We don’t take a bus in hand so saying when it is “here” is a little more ambiguous. I think perhaps this link between languages is a bit of a false friend for reason which I will elucidate in my own comments at the end.
The Slightly More Complicated Version (and the “Why”)
So why is it that ている has different meanings with different verbs? And why does it seem to be ambiguous with some verbs like 来る?
In grammar there is a concept called “aspect” (アスペクト or 相(そう) in Japanese). If tense tells us when a verb takes place then aspect tells us the progress of that verb. To keep things short I won’t expand much on this but it may well come up again in this thread and I can get into it then! The reason I bring this up is that a linguist called 金田一（きんだいち）tried to categorise Japanese verbs based on their relationship to lexical aspect and the ている form. He has four categories:
- 状態動詞 (じょうたいどうし) - Stative Verbs
These are verbs which do not use the ている form. E.g., ある, いる, potential form verbs like 話せる, 見える, わかる, etc.
- 継続動詞 (けいぞくどうし) - Continuative Verbs
These verbs show actions (動作動詞) instead of states and when using the ている form they show a continuing (progressing) action. E.g., 聞く, 読む、食べる、降る. This is the closest to the English progressive (-ing form) and what most learners have in mind when first learning about ている.
- 瞬間動詞 (しゅんかんどうし) - Instantaneous Verbs
These verbs also show actions (also 動作動詞) instead of states however these actions are binary; either they have happened or they haven’t happened. This means that when ている is used they show that an action has happened and continues to be in the state of having happened. E.g., 死ぬ、知る、終わる.
- 第四種の動詞 (だいよんしゅのどうし) - Fourth Type Verbs
These verbs are always used with ている. As the vague name suggests these ones are quite hard to describe well so I won’t go into it here. E.g., 似る, 優れる.
As you can see, the use of ている tells you the aspect. That is, it tells us the progress or state of the verb. This progress or state differs depending on the type of verb.
But, wait…
Perhaps you have noticed but some of the verbs given as examples above don’t fully fit into the categories given above and seem to straddle between categories. For example:
- 田中は今クラシックを聞いています。(継続動詞・continuative)
Tanaka is listening to classical music now.
- その件ならそちらの課長さんから聞いています。(瞬間動詞・instantaneous)
If it is about that then I have (already) heard about it from your section head.
Or how about:
- それはわかる (状態動詞・stative)
- それはわかってる (瞬間動詞・instantaneous)
I’ll leave the interpretation of the above two as an exercise for the reader.
So how does this apply to 来る？By the categories above the primary classification of 来る would be as a 瞬間動詞 (instantaneous verb). I.e., it is a binary action that either has or hasn’t happened and appending the ている form means that the action has happened and continues to have happened. In English this would mean the thing in question has come and continues to be in the situation of having come. In more natural English it means that the thing in question is here. But 来る can also be used with ている as a 継続動詞 (continuative verb) in certain contexts. In those cases it would be equivalent to the English present progressive, -ing form (現在進行). This usage may be rephrased, in a slightly forced way, in Japanese as:
With this newfound knowledge you can now hopefully more easily analyse ている when it comes up in unexpected ways and you can hopefully also see how the ている form doesn’t really correspond to the English - ing form outside of only limited cases. Speaking of which…
My Tangential Comments Regarding ている
These comments are non-essential and explore a tangent I was thinking about. Feel free to skip if you already have a headache! I’ve cut significant arguments, especially about English grammar, to get to the point so if a conclusion looks implausible then that is probably why.
In the book 認知と言語: 日本語の世界・英語の世界, the authors explore the differences between Japanese and English from the point of view of cognitive linguistics. In it they argue that the differences in the way ている functions in Japanese and the progressive (-ing) functions in English is due to a difference in the way perceptions are put into words between the two languages. I won’t go deeply into it here but they make some quite interesting observations. What’s relevant is their contention that the Japanese ている form fundamentally comes from an in situ viewpoint and the English progressive (-ing) comes from out of situ viewpoint. What this means in practice is that Japanese biases a view of things from how they are perceived now and then can be traced back to some origin that can logically be concluded from the currently perceived situation. Conversely, English biases a viewpoint that is more detached and considers a more objective beginning and ending of the action/verb in question, not just the perceived situation as it is now. The authors spend a whole book arguing for this idea so forgive me for being a bit vague and unconvincing in presenting it. I will try show the argument through examples:
- 丘の上に城が立っている。(A castle stands on top of the hill.)
- 彼のことはよく知っている。(I know him well.)
- 二人はよく似ている。(Those two look exactly alike.)
As you can see, the Japanese uses ている whilst in English the progressive is not favoured or is even ungrammatical in these sentences. The reason why, according to the analysis above, is that from the Japanese viewpoint this is a judgement on how things are perceived now. The castle is standing on the hill now (presumably built in the past but with no comment on the future). I am knowing about him now (and learnt about him at some point but with no comment on my continued knowing about him). Those two are looking alike now (and presumably did so from some past point although, again, no comment on if or when this situation will end). In contrast the English progressive would imply both a beginning and an objective end, thus a form of temporality. That means that if the castle were standing in the hill then it’s implied that at some point it will not be. If I am knowing him then it’s implied that at some point I won’t. If they are looking alike then they will cease to. You can see this difference in something feeling temporary or fixed in English by considering the following sentences:
- Mary lives in Tokyo.
- Mary is living in Tokyo.
For a native speaker the second sentence implies that Mary is living in Tokyo now but at some point will not be. Normally this would imply the speaker knows of some reason why Mary won’t be living in Tokyo soon. Compare this with the Japanese sentence:
Mary moved to Tokyo or was born there or something and lives there now. There is no implied end point or temporary nature behind the Japanese.
The above observation means that even when a sentence seems to be identical in English and Japanese there is actually a hidden difference in the implication.
- John is reading a book.
- ジョンが本を読んでいる。
These sentences are essentially identical on the surface but arguably they’re fundamentally different. The English implies an end point to the reading whilst the Japanese simply comments on the fact that the reading is currently progressing with no implications about the end of the action.
Thinking in terms of aspect, the progressive aspect in English and Japanese can perhaps be seen to be essentially different.
Your Comments
I originally was planning on replying to everyone but I already accidentally sunk too much time into this. What I have done instead is made a note of topics that you guys have touched upon and I will try and make sure those topics are included at some point in future posts.
I tried to pick a juicy first topic so people would reply but this was perhaps a bit too juicy （笑）I really appreciate all the responses though and look forward to seeing what you have to say about future questions as well!
Feel free to ask questions, comments or observations. I’ll post a new (simpler…) question tomorrow!
)