Japanese Grammar shite imasu:
Another Meaning -
Intermediate Lessons: 22

Japanese grammar shite imasu (しています) has various functions and you have already learned some of them in the basic lessons.

For example, you have learned about Progress Action, Habitual Action and Occupation in basic lesson 22. You also learned about State Continuation in basic lesson 29.

In this lesson, you will learn another function of the shite imasu (しています). In this case, shite imasu has a totally different meaning and it's mostly used to emphasize the description of appearance or shape.

Sentence Pattern

Let's first look at the sentence pattern...

Normally when we want to describe body parts or somebody's ability, we'll use the sentence pattern:

• Topic は Noun が Adjective です。

For example, you can say...

• 田中さんは顔が丸いです。
  tanaka san wa kao ga marui desu
  
  Meaning: Ms Tanaka's face is round.

However, you can also describe the same thing by using the Japanese grammar shite imasu.

• 田中さんは丸い顔をしています。
  tanaka san wa marui kao wo shite imasu
  
  Meaning: Ms Tanaka has got a round face.

In the above example, the shite imasu (しています) means "has got" or "possess".

Using this sentence pattern you can describe appearance of other people, the shapes, colors, etc of their body parts.

Examples of Japanese Grammar shite imasu

Beside describing the appearance of people, this shite imasu (しています) can also be used to describe appearance of animals.

Related Pages

Basic Lesson 22: Japanese Verbs on Progress Action, Habitual Action & Occupation.

Basic Lesson 29: Japanese Verbs on State Continuation.

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