I would say mostly just in usage. You tend to hear 実 in things like 実は at the start of a sentence (To tell you the truth…, Actually…)
Where as 事実 is more like “it’s a fact”. それは事実だ
13 Likes
Yep, makes sense! Tyvm 
少し疲れました.
Can this sentence be translated to both/either of the following sentences?
- I’m a little tired.
- I was a little tired.
The ました makes me automatically think it’s referring to something in the past. But the translation I am being given is the first. If it can be translated as 1, why? Does the ました make it more polite than just ます or something like that?
I read it as “I have become a little tired [which makes me tired now]”, which covers both translation.
1 Like
Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I didn’t think of it that way! It’s so obvious now. xD
Thank you!
Oh no, not again! 
sigh I’ll understand all this one day, I swear! shakes fist
How tf did you level up before me. When did you level up exactly? You said you would get new kanji in 2 days 9 hours while mine was less time. IMPOSSSIBLE.
1 Like
少し疲れていました feels to me like “was tired” more than “has grown to be tired”. But, 少し疲れています feels more like “I’m a little tired”. 少し疲れます just feels a bit weird and abrupt for describing a state you’re currently experiencing. Compare that to 結婚します, 結婚しました, and 結婚しています. It’s a similar case, I think.
As usual, grain of salt and I might be wrong.
I mean 疲れています and not 疲れていました
similar to:
起きる - I wake up → 起きている - I woke up and am still awake
It should behave like:
疲れる - I get tired → 疲れている - I got tired and am still tired
To my understanding,
疲れた wouldn’t have the implication of still being tired.
(And I agree with you on the meaning of 疲れていた)
Be careful. 疲れた is the most common spoken phrase by people who are feeling tired. I remember when I taught English, the translation in the textbook was “I’m bushed.” haha.
疲れた is what people say when they are tired after a long day of work or finally sit down at home. It says “I’m beat,” “I’m tired,” etc.
I would use 疲れていた when describing a time when I was tired or as an excuse for something.
6 Likes
But 疲れている is also used (at least I get a lot of results on Google)
Do you only use it when it isn’t obvious that you’re still tired?
疲れている is also used and common. They are interchangeable. 疲れた seems like it should be past tense, but its normal usage is “I’m beat.” The ている pattern is just unnecessary here, but certainly not wrong.
Found this googling.
4 Likes
I’m not sure if I’m more confused now than I was before or if that helped and I just need to think about it some more. xD
Maybe you are overthinking it.
疲れた I’m beat/tired
疲れている I’m beat/tired
疲れていた I was tired [at that time]
疲れました edit: I’m tired/I was tired (polite)
But 疲れました can also be “I am tired”, yes?
That was my original question. Since ました is usually past, I thought to say “I was tired” (just like you did) but it was translated to “I am tired” and that’s the idea I’m struggling with and probably, like you said, overthinking.
Again, it’s likely some of will be know better (I’m basically using hunches a lot here), but 起きた puts an emphasis on the fact you weren’t awake before, but now you are, while 起きている just means you’re awake at that moment.
Does it? I thought the ている would make it to mean the action was still in progress, like, “I am waking up.”?
Edit :Wait a sec… is that what you meant and I’m just misunderstanding?
Japanese tenses don’t work the same as in English - the た/ました forms are more like the perfect present /past than the simple past in English.
3 Likes