Episode 44
Not Doing & Coming — ～ていない/～てくる
Learn how to say what's not happening with ていない, and how to add direction and change to any verb with てくる — including the phrase every Japanese household says at the door.
Two te-form extensions in one episode. First, you flip the progressive into its negative — what is not happening, what you are not in the middle of. Then you meet てくる, a construction that adds direction and gradual change to any verb. And along the way: the phrase every Japanese household says at the door every morning.
What You'll Learn#
Not doing (negative progressive). Take ている and replace いる with いない.
食べていません (I'm not eating), 見ていません (I'm not watching)
Come and do / an action arrives toward the speaker / something gradually builds up.
行ってきます (I'm going and coming back), 歩いてきました (I walked here), 雨が降ってきました (it started raining)
New vocabulary: ていない/ていません (not doing), 食べていません (not eating), 見ていません (not watching), 行ってきます (I'm leaving — and I'll be back), 歩いてきました (walked here), 雨が降ってきました (it started raining), 寒くなってきた (it's getting cold)
Lesson Transcript#
Section A — ～ていない / ～ていません: Not Doing#
In episode 41 you learned ている — the progressive. Something is in progress, happening right now, ongoing. Today you flip that into its negative.
The pattern is the same te-form you already know. You simply replace the ending:
| Form | Japanese | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Progressive (casual) | ている | is doing |
| Progressive (polite) | ています | is doing |
| Negative progressive (casual) | ていない | is not doing |
| Negative progressive (polite) | ていません | is not doing |
The first example — the verb 食べる, to eat. Its te-form is 食べて. Add いません for polite negative.
I'm not eating.
食べていません。
食べていない。
Second example — 見る, to watch. Te-form is 見て.
I'm not watching.
見ていません。
見ていない。
Now a real sentence from the practice database — weather and the negative progressive together.
It's not raining now.
今は雨が降っていません。
今は雨が降っていない。
A Note on the Two Senses#
Just like ている has two uses — the progressive (eating, watching) and the resultant state (知っている, "I know") — ていない reaches across both. When you negate a resultant state, you get "not in that state." So 知っていません can mean "I don't know," though the plain form 知らない is more common in casual speech.
Section B — ～てくる: Coming / Becoming#
The second extension brings in 来る (くる), "to come." When you attach くる after the te-form of another verb, you get a construction with three related meanings:
- Movement toward the speaker — "come and do" / "do [verb] this way"
- An action arriving — something physically approaching
- Gradual change building up — a development coming on over time
行ってきます — The Phrase Every Household Knows#
The most famous example of てくる in daily life is a phrase said at the door every morning when someone leaves for school or work.
I'm going now. / I'm leaving.
行ってきます。
行ってくる。
Literally: "I go, and I come back." Departure and return are fused into one phrase. The household responds: いってらっしゃい — "please go and come back." The promise of return is already built into the goodbye.
Moving Toward the Speaker#
I walked here.
歩いてきました。
歩いてきた。
An Action Arriving#
It started raining. / The rain is coming on.
雨が降ってきました。
雨が降ってきた。
Gradual Change#
It's getting cold.
寒くなってきました。
寒くなってきた。
Pattern Summary#
| Pattern | Form | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| ていない | te-form + いない | not doing (casual) |
| ていません | te-form + いません | not doing (polite) |
| てくる | te-form + くる | come and do / action arrives / change builds |
| てきます | te-form + きます | polite present of てくる |
| てきました | te-form + きました | polite past of てくる |
Key Takeaway
ていない is the negative mirror of ている — swap いる for いない and any progressive flips to "not doing." てくる adds direction: the action moves toward the speaker, or a change builds and arrives. Both extend the te-form you already know without any new conjugation rules.
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