て+いる confusion

[fras-siabi]

I have a question regarding the て form +いる. As I was doing a written practice exercise out of my book's section on progressive, habitual, or resulting states, I translated:（山田さんは今、東京に行っています。）
as:"Yamada-san is on his way to Tokyo" or literally "Yamada is now going to Tokyo"

but in the book's answer key it was translated as "Yamada is in Tokyo now".
which I would think would simply be 山田さんは今、東京にいます。

knowing that in this context the verb 行く　in the て　form + います would make it a progressive state, as in:(he is going to Tokyo). Is the book's translation incorrect？ or am i not understanding some aspect of て＋いる？

Thanks!

[Dustin]

You are correct on most verbs, however て＋いる when it comes to a MOTION verb is slightly different.

Rather than to be "xx"ing, a motion verb with iru actually means "to have gone somewhere and still be there".

This is the same whether you are using 行く、来る、かえる。

ダスティンはアメリカに行っている。
Dustin has gone to America and is still there.

Your book simplified the translation a bit, but essentially means the same thing, since context usually defines if America is somewhere he has gone or not.

ダスティンはもう家に帰っています。
Dustin has returned home and is there.

いる can also be used for a habitual action, such as something done every day.
私は毎日四マイル走っている。
I run 4 miles every day.


Hope that helps

[Dustin]

I'd like to also say ( looking at your profile on the side ) welcome to the site, though it looks like you've lurked a while before reaching out for help.

Feel free to post an introduction, so we can all get to know you

[fras-siabi]

I'd like to also say ( looking at your profile on the side ) welcome to the site, though it looks like you've lurked a while before reaching out for help.

Feel free to post an introduction, so we can all get to know you

hehe yeah I tend to keep to myself too much, but what you explained makes a lot of sense now that i have seen it drawn out

so thanks!

ps: I promise I'll make an introduction and contribute more soon I just kind of wanted to get to a point where i could try to keep my output mostly in Japanese for practice, as I don't do as much application as I should ( I mostly do reading and listening) 本当にごめんなさい。

[tuber97]

Rather than to be "xx"ing, a motion verb with iru actually means "to have gone somewhere and still be there".

So how would one write the progressive form of a motion verb?

[Hyperworm]

I'll use 消える. (消えている means "is gone[disappeared]".)

The following are possible ways:
消えかけている
消えている途中だ
消えているところだ
消えつつある (fairly formal/literary)

I'm slightly shaky on this, so can someone else confirm that these work, and which of these can apply to 行く?

(The other, probably less satisfying, answer to your question is: rephrase the sentence so that you don't need to use the progressive form with that verb.)
(e.g. instead of "is [presently] going to", use "is headed to[今東京に向かっています]". I think that works...)

[Yudan Taiteki]

You can also just use a plain imperfective -- 家に帰る, which works in some cases.

But in my discussions with native speakers about this, it just doesn't seem like there's any way to literally translate "I am going home [= I am on my way home]" in a way that is completely satisfactory to a native speaker.