How close are なりつつある and なっている?

Question

>語学学習は私の新しい習慣の一部になりつつあるのでしょうか？ >"Is learning languages becoming a part of my new daily routine?" なりつつある here seems similar to なっている... are they often interchangeable? Would I be able to change them back and forth without changing the meaning of this sentence much? This is my first contact with this suffix so if anyone has warnings about its usages or beginner's mistakes, please feel free to espouse. wwwjdic defines つつある as :to be doing; to be in the process of doing

Answer 1

Excellent question!

In terms of base meaning, these two phrases are extremely similar. The main difference is in the impression of timeline that they give.

なりつつある gives the impression of "is in the process of becoming," where なっている gives the impression of "is becoming." なりつつある is more of a general trend or tendency and なっている is giving a statement of absolute change.

Hope that helps!