aspect N4 common casualpolitewritten
〜ていた — was ~ing
〜ていた ・ ていた
Builds on ている
Meaning
- was ~ing / had ~ed (and stayed that way) — the past of ている: an action ongoing in the past, or a state that already held
Key sentence
電話が鳴ったとき、私はお風呂に入っていた。
When the phone rang, I was in the bath.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb (て-form) | V-て + いた (past of いる) | 読む → 読んでいた |
Examples
昨日の夜、ずっと本を読んでいた。
Last night I was reading the whole time.
部屋に着いたら、もう電気が消えていた。
When I got to the room, the lights were already off.
彼は十年前、ここで働いていた。
He was working here ten years ago.
Easily confused with
〜ている Same two readings (ongoing action / resulting state) — ていた just shifts them into the past. 食べている = is eating; 食べていた = was eating. 〜た (plain past) Plain past た reports that an action happened and finished (本を読んだ — I read the book). ていた frames it as in progress or as a lingering state at some past moment (本を読んでいた — I was reading).
Notes
- Which reading applies — past progressive vs. past state — is told by the verb and context, exactly as with ている. After で-ending て-forms it voices to でいた (飲んでいた, 遊んでいた).
See 〜ていた in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜ていた the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.