connective N4 common casualpolitewritten

〜ているあいだに — while ~ing

〜ているあいだに・ているあいだに

Meaning

while (someone is) ~ing — a second action happens at a point during the ongoing first action

This is 〜間あいだに with the span expressed as a ている progressive: 'while X is going on, Y happens (once)'. The に means Y occurs at *some point* inside X, not for its whole duration. The two clauses often have different subjects (寝ねている間あいだに誰だれか来きた). Drop the に and Y instead spans all of X.

Key sentence

赤あかちゃんが寝ねている間あいだに、家事かじを済すませた。

While the baby was sleeping, I got the housework done.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Verb ている-form + 間に	Vている + 間に	食たべている間あいだに / 待まっている間あいだに

Examples

電話でんわしている間あいだに、料理りょうりが焦こげた。

While I was on the phone, the food burned.

彼かれが話はなしている間あいだに、メモを取とった。

While he was talking, I took notes.

シャワーを浴あびている間あいだに、宅配便たくはいびんが来きたらしい。

Apparently a delivery came while I was in the shower.

Easily confused with

〜間に Same connective; this entry is the ている (progressive) attachment specifically. 間あいだに also takes Nの and i-adjectives (夏休なつやすみの間あいだに, 若わかい間あいだに). ながらながら needs one subject doing both actions (テレビを見みながら食たべる); 〜ているあいだに lets a different subject act during the first subject's ongoing action.

Notes

Without に — 〜ている間あいだ — the second action lasts the whole time: 待まっている間あいだ、本ほんを読よんでいた ('I read the whole time I was waiting').

See 〜ているあいだに in real sentences

Jengo shows 〜ているあいだに the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled from published Japanese grammar references.

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