Habituals: How to describe habits and occupations in Japanese?

A habitual action is an action performed on a regular basis. For example, if you say “I jog every Saturday” in English, that is a habitual action. In Japanese, you can use the standard present tense to discuss habitual actions, but you can also use the verb ending 〜ている (transcribed -teiru).

• present tense

  佐々木さんは毎朝３キロ走ります。

  Transcription: Sasaki-san wa maiasa san kiro hashirimasu.

  Translation: Sasaki-san runs three kilometers every morning.
• 〜ている [-teiru] form

  佐々木さんは毎朝３キロ走っています。

  Transcription: Sasaki-san wa maiasa san kiro hashitteimasu.

  Translation: Sasaki-san runs three kilometers every morning.

In this post, we’ll talk about how to use the present tense form and the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form to talk about habitual actions. We’ll also discuss how you can use the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form to discuss occupations or careers.

Let’s get started!

When you use the present tense of a Japanese verb to talk about a habitual action, it will usually be accompanied by an adverb that indicates something about when or how often the action takes place. We saw this in the example we looked at above:

Here’s an example of how you can use this verb form to discuss habits in a conversation:

Here are some common patterns in the frequency adverbs used alongside present tense verbs that are used to discuss habits:

• For phrases like “every” + day/morning/month use:

  毎〜

  Transcription: mai-

  Translation: every

  

  period of time

  毎日

  Transcription:

  Translation: every day

  毎朝

  Transcription:

  Translation: every morning

  毎晩

  Transcription:

  Translation: every night

  毎週

  Transcription:

  Translation: every week

  毎週金曜日

  Transcription:

  Translation: every Friday

  毎月

  Transcription:

  Translation: every month

  毎年

  Transcription:

  Translation: every year

• For phrases like [x times] “per” [period of time] use:

  number of times / duration

  

  に

  Transcription: ni

  

  period of time

  一日に二回

  Transcription:

  Translation: twice a day

  週に三時間

  Transcription:

  Translation: three hours a week

  一ヶ月に二日

  Transcription:

  Translation: two days a month

  半年に五回

  Transcription:

  Translation: five times per half year

  二年に一度

  Transcription:

  Translation: once every two years

You can find more Japanese adverbs of frequency in this adverb reference sheet! Now, let’s learn about using the present to discuss habitual actions.

Another way to express habitual actions is to use a verb plus 〜ている (transcribed -teiru). The big difference is that you can use this form to discuss both present habits and past habits. For example:

• 佐々木さんは毎朝３キロ走っています 。

  Transcription: Sasaki-san wa maiasa san kiro hashitteimasu.

  Translation: Sasaki-san runs three kilometers every morning.

  a present or current habit
• 高校の時は自転車で学校に行っていました。

  Transcription: Kōkō no toki wa jitensha de gakkō ni itteimashita.

  Translation: When I was in high school, I went to school by bicycle

  a past habit
• 最近運動していないから、階段を登るのも辛いなあ。

  Transcription: Saikin undō shiteinai kara, kaidan o noboru no mo tsurai naa.

  Translation: I haven’t been exercising these days; even going up stairs is hard for me.

  stating that something is not a current habit (a negative habitual verb)

When you use verb + 〜ている (transcribed -teiru)ending, you’re actually combining the te-form of the verb, verb + 〜て (transcribed te), with the verb いる (transcribed iru, meaning “to be”). So to put a verb + 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) into different tenses and forms, you’ll only change the いる (transcribed iru) part. You can see this if we use the verbs used in the examples above:

Because the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form has other uses, you’ll still often use a frequency adverb when you discuss habits this way. Can you spot them in the examples above?

However you don’t always need a frequency adverb, if there is enough context. For example, look at this conversation between two friends:

What if Mina did not use the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form in the sentence above? What if she had used the dictionary form instead? In this case, it would not have been understood as a habitual action, since there is no frequency adverb:

So the present tense and the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form can both be used to discuss habits. What’s the difference? Is there a difference in meaning? How do you pick between the two forms?

The difference between the two is slight, but you’re likely to hear them used a bit differently in conversation:

• The present tense is more common when stating the habit as one of many facts, as when listing a number of different habits.

  present tense

  佐々木さんは毎朝３キロ走ります。それから、パンと目玉焼きを食べてオフィスに行きます。

  Transcription: Sasaki-san wa maiasa san kiro hashirimasu. Sorekara, pan to medamayaki o tabete ofisu ni ikimasu.

  Translation: Sasaki-san runs three kilometers every morning. Then, she eats bread and fried eggs, and goes to the office.

  Here we are discussing Sasaki. The fact that she runs regularly is one of those facts.

• The 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form is more commonly used when the habit itself is being discussed, such as when you’re discussing it in a bit more depth, when it provides supporting justification or explanation for some claim.

  -teiru form

  佐々木さんは毎朝３キロ 走っています。なのに、実は走るのは好きじゃないそうです。

  Transcription: Sasaki-san wa maiasa san kiro hashitteimasu. Nanoni, jitsu wa hashiru no ha suki ja nai sou desu.

  Translation: Sasaki-san runs three kilometers every morning. Even so, I heard that she actually doesn’t like running.

  Here we are directly discussing Sasaki’s running habit.

  この部署の人はみんな健康的です。佐々木さんは毎朝３キロ走っているし、沢田さんは野菜をよく食べるようにしているし。

  Transcription: Kono busho no hito wa minna kenkōteki desu. Sasaki-san wa maiasa san kiro hashitteiru shi, Sawada-san wa yasai o yoku taberu you ni shiteiru shi.

  Translation: People in this department are all healthy. Sasaki-san runs three kilometers every morning, and Sawada-san tries to eat vegetables often, for example.

  Sasaki’s running habit provides support for the statement that people in the department are healthy.

  来年は絶対にマラソンの大会に出たいので、佐々木さんは毎朝３キロ走っています。

  Transcription: Rainen wa zettai ni marason no taikai ni detai node, sasaki-san wa maiasa san kiro hashitteimasu.

  Translation: Because s/he really wants to run in a marathon next year, Sasaki-san runs three kilometers every morning.

Jobs are also something we do habitually! In Japanese, you’ll usually also use the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form to discuss your job or occupation. For example:

There are a few different patterns you can use to answer the question above:

• Describe the action you perform at work (e.g. “I teach,” “I build houses,” “I bake cakes,”...) by putting that action directly into the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form.

  子供に英語を教えています。

  Transcription: Kodomo ni eigo o oshieteimasu.

  Translation: I teach children English.

• Provide the name of the job (e.g. “I am a teacher,” “I am a builder,” “I am a baker”). There are two patterns to follow here, with no real difference in meaning between the two:

  • Use the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form of する (transcribed suru, meaning “do”) alongside the name of your job. Note that here the job is the object of する, so it’s marked by the direct object marker を (transcribed o).

    -teiru formdirect object markeroccupation

    私は美容師をしています。

    Transcription: Watashi wa biyōshi o shiteimasu.

    Translation: I’m a hairstylist.

    Literally: lit. I do hairstylist.

  • Use a state-of-being sentence, ending in a word like です (transcribed desu), more like you might say you “are” your career in English:

    occupationstate of being

    私は会計士です。

    Transcription: Watashi wa kaikeishi desu.

    Translation: I’m an accountant.

    Notice that in this structure you don’t need を (transcribed o)!

In this post, we talked about the two verb forms we commonly use to discuss habits in Japanese: the present tense and the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form. Here’s what you should remember:

• Use the present tense to list a habit as a fact. To discuss habits with this verb form you should always use a frequency adverb.

• Use the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form if the habit itself is the topic of discussion or to discuss past habits. These are often used with a frequency adverb, but not always.

• Use the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form or です (transcribed desu) to discuss your career.

Ready to practice? Have a look at these Japanese habitual verb activities, or start looking at some of these verb forms more in more depth with our posts on the 〜ている (transcribed -teiru) form or the present tense form.