質問: > > 1 いつの間にかパーティーは終わっていた > > 2 いつの間にかパーティーは終わった > > > How do you interpret the two sentences above?
回答: This ~ている expresses "the continuation of state" as described in detail in When is Vている the continuation of action and when is it the continuation of state? * パーティーは終わっていた。 = The party had ended. * パーティーは終わった。 = The party ended. The former form is used when, for example, you visited somewhere but found there was already no one left. The latter is used when you just heard a closing address from the host.