Level 3 · Intermediate
Ongoing states with 着
Verb + 着 · Traditional: Verb + 著
着 (zhe) after a verb freezes its result into an ongoing state: 门开着 "the door is (standing) open", 他穿着一件红衣服 "he's wearing a red shirt". The action happened; 着 says its state is still holding.
That's the difference from 在: 在 is for the action itself in progress, 着 for the state left behind. 他在穿衣服 = he's (in the middle of) putting clothes on; 他穿着衣服 = he has clothes on.
Examples
门开着。
門開著。
mén kāi zhe
The door is open.
他穿着一件红衣服。
他穿著一件紅衣服。
tā chuān zhe yī jiàn hóng yī fu
He's wearing a red piece of clothing.
桌子上放着一本书。
桌子上放著一本書。
zhuō zi shàng fàng zhe yī běn shū
There's a book lying on the table.
墙上挂着一张照片。
牆上掛著一張照片。
qiáng shàng guà zhe yī zhāng zhào piàn
There's a photo hanging on the wall.
Common mistakes
✗ 他在穿一件红衣服。
✓ 他穿着一件红衣服。
在 means he's putting it on right now — for "has it on" (a state), use 着.
Related grammar points
See it in a story
Read this pattern in context: A New Morning — free graded stories with tap-to-reveal pinyin and translations.
