〜ている can describe an ongoing action or resulting state; 〜てある describes a result left by someone’s action. 窓が開いている says the window is open. 窓が開けてある points to someone having opened it, often for a purpose. てある typically follows a transitive verb; its affected item often takes が, while an を version is also possible in some constructions.
also written teiru / tearu / ています / てあります
ている — happening now, or the state that resulted · てある — someone did it and left it that way · てある usually implies a resulting state left by someone’s action
Sentences
ている · in progress
polite。
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今
いま ［1］
now
noun used adverbially · pinning it to this moment
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本
ほん ［1］
book
noun · the object being read
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を
を
marks the direct object
particle · pronounced お
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読んで
よんで
reading
て-form of 読む · linking into います
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います
います
is (ongoing)
polite いる · progressive, because 読む is an action verb
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I'm reading a book right now.
ている · the state after a change
polite。
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窓
まど ［1］
window
noun · the thing in the state described
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
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開いて
あいて
opened
て-form of 開く · intransitive, so no doer is implied
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います
います
is (in that state)
polite いる · resultative, because 開く is a change verb
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The window is open.
てある · someone left it that way
polite。
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窓
まど ［1］
window
noun · same window, and still が despite the transitive verb
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
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開けて
あけて
opened
て-form of 開ける · transitive, which てある requires
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あります
あります
has been done and left
polite ある · someone did it on purpose and the result stands
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The window's been left open for us.
てある · a note left for you
polite。
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紙
かみ ［2］
paper
noun · the surface the writing sits on
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に
に
to; at; into
particle · a point something reaches — a place, a time, a person, or a state
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名前
なまえ ［0］
name
noun · the object of 書く, now marked が
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が
が
marks the subject
particle · what the sentence is about — with 好き, 分かる and potentials, the object
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書いて
かいて
written
て-form of 書く · transitive, so てある is available
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あります
あります
has been written
polite ある · someone wrote it and it is still there
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There's a name written on the paper.
ている · a habit, not this instant
polite。
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銀行
ぎんこう ［0］
bank
noun · the workplace
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で
で
in; at — where it happens
particle · where the action happens, or the manner it happens in
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働いて
はたらいて
working
て-form of 働く · here a standing arrangement, not this second
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います
います
is (ongoing)
polite いる · a habitual state, the third job of ている
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I work at a bank.
てある · prepared in advance
polite。
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切符
きっぷ ［0］
ticket
noun · 切符 for transport, チケット for events
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は
は
as for — the topic
particle · written は, read わ
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もう
もう
already
adverb · the preparation is complete
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買って
かって
bought
て-form of 買う · transitive, the deliberate act
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あります
あります
and it's taken care of
polite ある · the result of preparation, still standing
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I've already booked the tickets.
Structure
食べ / 読ん / 走っ＋ている
食べています. An action unfolding right now. This is the use every textbook introduces first.
開い / 結婚し / 死ん＋ている
開いています. Not 'is opening' — the change already happened and the state remains. 知っている and 持っている belong here.
開け / 書い / 買っ＋てある
開けてあります. Someone did it deliberately and left the result standing. Never built on an intransitive verb.
Object＋が … てある
紙に名前が書いてある. The object takes が because the sentence describes the thing, not the doer.
Meaning
ている does two jobs. With an action verb it is progressive — 食べている, I am eating. With a change-of-state verb it is resultative — 結婚している means married, not “getting married.” Which job it does depends entirely on the verb.
てある presents a resulting state from someone’s action, often with a purpose. エアコンがつけてある — someone turned the air conditioning on ahead of time, for a reason. The person goes unnamed, and the sentence still insists they exist.
The particle often changes in the result-state construction. 名前を書く becomes 名前が書いてある. The verb is still transitive, but the sentence is now a description of the paper, so the affected item often takes が.
てある needs a transitive verb. 開けてある works; 開いてある does not, because 開く has no doer to imply. If the verb takes が on its own, it cannot take てある.
ておく is the same event earlier in time. 窓を開けておいた is the act of opening it in preparation; 窓が開けてある is the standing result of that act. One is the verb, the other is the aftermath.
Watch out
てある needs a transitive verb, and 開く is intransitive. It is 開けてある — or 開いている if you only mean the window is open.
結婚する is a change of state, so ている gives the result: married. The same trap catches 知っている, 持っている and 住んでいる.
名前を書いてある is marked wrong. The sentence describes the paper now, so the affected item often takes が: 名前が書いてある.
Also asked
ている describes how something is. てある describes how someone left it — deliberately, and usually for a reason.
Because the sentence has stopped being about the doer and become a description of the thing. The doer is implied and unnamed, so what is left to be the subject is the object itself.
No. てある only attaches to transitive verbs, because it exists to imply someone did the action. 開く has no doer, so there is nothing to imply.
Same event, different moment. ておく is the act of preparing; てある is the state that preparation left behind.
知る is the moment of coming to know — a change. ている on a change verb gives you the state after it, so 知っている is the ongoing condition of knowing. Its negative is 知らない, not 知っていない.
No — it can be you. 切符は買ってあります is often about your own preparation. What it insists on is that a person did it on purpose, not which person.
References
Japan Foundation: Japanese grammar teaching notes — Compares resultant ている and intentional-result てある with transitive verb examples.
Nearby
the verb pairs this whole distinction rests on
ておく vs てしまうte oku · te shimauthe act of preparing, and the act you regret
たばかり vs たところta bakari · ta tokoroother ways of placing an action in time
あげる vs くれる vs もらうageru · kureru · morauhelper verbs that ride on the same て-form
着る vs 履く vs かぶるkiru · haku · kaburuwearing is nearly always ている, not the plain verb
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