Page 135 - Basic Japanese

‘Last night I studied’) or a series thought of as a set of specific
acts (Mainichi hatarakimasu ‘Every day I work’) rather than as a set

of continuing actions taking up a space of time (Mainichi hataraite
imasu ‘Every day I’M WORKING’). The exact difference between

shigoto o shimasu and shigoto o shite imasu is just as subtle as that
between ‘I work’ and ‘I’m working,’ and in many situations

either phrase would seem appropriate. Sometimes the
difference between the simple verb and the GERUND + imasu
seems to lie in a slightly different focus of emphasis. In the

sentence Ichi-ji kara ni-ji made hatarakimashita ‘I worked from 1
o’clock to 2 o’clock,’ the principal emphasis is on the fact that I

worked and the time is incidental additional information. But in
the sentence Ichi-ji kara ni-ji made hataraite imashita ‘From 1 o’clock
to 2 o’clock I was working,’ the emphasis, while perhaps really

focused on the DURATIVE nature of the action, that is, on the
word imashita, seems to be more on the time and what I was
doing during the time.

The gerund is also used in certain phrases with other verbs:

歩いて行きます。

Aruite ikimasu.

He walks (He goes walking).

車に乗って来ます。

Kuruma ni notte kimasu.

He comes by car (riding in a car).

マイクをつれて行きましょうか。

Maiku o tsurete ikimashō ka.