How to Say ‘Doing; working (polite).’ in Japanese
しています
shi te i masu
[shee teh ee mahss]
💬 Usage Tip: [しています] is the polite [〜ている] form, used for ongoing actions or states/habits: [勉強しています] (I’m studying / I study).
🇯🇵 In Japan: For jobs, Japanese often uses [〜をしています] to describe what they do, especially in introductions.
Phrase Breakdown
し
shi
[shee]
do (polite, as part of ‘〜しています’)
し is from する. In 〜しています it expresses an ongoing action/state (present continuous).
いま勉強しています。
I’m studying now.
て
te
[teh]
(te-form marker)
て links to いる to make the pattern 〜ている (ongoing action/state).
ごはんを食べています。
I’m eating a meal.
い
i
[ee]
to be; to exist (for living things)
い is from いる. In 〜ている it shows a continuing action or resulting state; polite form is 〜ています.
日本に住んでいます。
I live in Japan.
ます
masu
[mahss]
(polite verb ending)
ます makes the verb polite: しています = ‘am doing / do (polite)’.
毎日運動しています。
I exercise every day.
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