Japanese verbal form te-aru

The verbal form te-aru is one of those constructions that catches many students by surprise. At first glance, it seems just another variation of Japanese, but diving into its use reveals that it carries a quite specific, even subtle meaning. The biggest challenge lies in the fact that we do not have a direct equivalent in other languages, which ends up requiring more from the student’s contextual reasoning.

Before understanding how to use this form correctly, it is essential to grasp the logic behind it: te-aru describes an action that was done with a purpose and whose result is still present. It is not just about what happened, but about the current state generated by that action. This construction is extremely common in everyday Japanese — often used so naturally that it goes unnoticed.

What is the verbal form te-aru?

The form te-aru is composed of the conjugation of the main verb in the te form, followed by the verb ある (aru), which indicates the existence of something inanimate. This combination, however, does not serve to indicate just existence, but rather the result of an action done intentionally.

To understand better, see the example:

• ドアが開けてある (Doa ga akete aru) → The door is open (and someone opened it with a purpose).

In this case, we are not simply informing that the door is open. We are saying that someone opened the door with a specific intention, and it remains in that state.

Vocabulary of the article

In this first section, we will see the words that will appear throughout this article, so that you are already familiar with what will come next.

• 半分（はんぶん）: Half
• ケーキ : Cake
• 食べる（たべる）: To eat
• テレビ : Television
• 見る（みる）: To see
• 倉庫 そうこ – Warehouse, storage.
• 貯蔵 ちょぞう : To store, to preserve. storage; preservation
• 狭い せまい : Narrow, confined, tight.
• 空間 くうかん : Space, area.
• 物 もの, もん, モノ : Things, objects.
• 沢山 たくさん : A lot, plenty, many.
• アドレス : Address.
• 名刺 めいし : Business card.
• 書く かく : To write.

Particles

Now, let’s familiarize ourselves with the particles that will arise during the lesson.

• の : It serves to connect elements, often translated as: of/from.
  Example: 彼のノート (Kare no nooto): His notebook.
  
• を : It serves to show the object or thing that receives the action of the verb to identify the object; it always comes before this particle.
  
• Example: テレビを見る (Terebi wo miru): To watch television.

Te Form

Before continuing, we need to know the te form.

The te form is used after the verb, meaning that usually a part of the verb is removed and te is added.
Example:

• 見る ー＞ 見て (miru -> mite) : to eat. – (removed the ru and added the te)
• 食べる ー＞ 食べて (taberu -> tabete): to eat – (removed the ru and added the te)
  

Te (て) – How this form works in Japanese?

Teiru

When you want to say that the action is happening, for example, in the present and continues to occur, the teiru form is used.

Let’s take the following example sentence: 半分のケーキを食べている (Hanbun no keeki o tabeteiru) this sentence means: Half of the cake is being eaten.

If you want to say that it happened before, you can use the form た or ていた.

• 半分のケーキ食べた – I ate half of the cake.
• 半分のケーキを食べていた – I was eating half of the cake.

The difference is that the Ta form only indicates that it happened previously, while the Teita indicates that it was happening before, meaning (in a progressive process). Why the progressive form? It is useful to show that actions were occurring together with something, for example:

• テレビを見てて、ケーキを食べていた。 – I was watching television while eating cake.

Te aru

In Japanese, てある represents the condition of permanence of an action or the consequence that remains in light of the action. In other words, the action is performed and its effect continues even after it has been done long ago.

For example:

• 半分のケーキを食べてある (Half of the cake has been eaten) and the effect of this action remains. In other words, that half that was eaten no longer exists and this fact does not change.
  
• 顔に嘘って書いてあるよ。 – It is written “lie” on your face. (and remains written).
  
• 米は倉庫に貯蔵してある – The rice is stored in warehouses. (and continues to be there).
  
• 狭い空間に物がたくさん置いてあるね。- There are many things in a small space, right? (in other words, these things continue to be there occupying space)
  
•  アドレスは名刺に書いてある。 – The address is on the business card. (That is, it remains written on the business card)

Aru

We learned about Te in Japanese, but what about aru that comes right after it, what does it mean?

The ある Aru has the following main meanings: To exist, to remain, to be located, to arise, to happen. Often confused with いる Iru, which also has similar meanings, the difference is that いる is used for moving/living things, while Aru is for inanimate objects.

Example:

彼女がいる

He has a girlfriend.
There is a girlfriend;

ビルがある

There is a building.