Progressive (-고 있다)

Frequently asked questions

When is -고 있다 used?

Express an ongoing action using verb stem + -고 있다 , similar to English "-ing" form.

How is -고 있다 formed?

Important: Only action verbs can use -고 있다. Descriptive verbs (adjectives) CANNOT: *예쁘고 있어요 (WRONG). Also, some verbs like 알다 (know) and 입다 (wear) use -고 있다 for a resulting state, not an ongoing action: 모자를 쓰고 있어요 = is wearing a hat (state), not is putting on a hat.

What are common mistakes with -고 있다?

Using -고 있다 with adjectives. Not distinguishing ongoing action from resulting state. Overusing progressive where simple present suffices. EN speakers: May overuse progressive as in English ('I'm living in Seoul' → Korean prefers 서울에 살아요, not 살고 있어요). Also forget it can't be used with adjectives. DE speakers: German has no progressive — uses simple present for ongoing actions ('Ich esse gerade'). Need to learn when Korean requires the progressive form. RU speakers: Russian uses imperfective aspect for ongoing actions, not a separate progressive. Mapping imperfective → -고 있다 works sometimes but not always. CS speakers: Czech uses imperfective verbs similarly to Russian.