Simultaneous Actions: ～ながら vs ～間に

We have two basic ways of expressing simultaneous actions in Japanese, e.g. “I ate dinner while watching television”. Both translate as “while” in English, but the usage in Japanese is different.

～ながら

【Verb: Stem】ながら【Verb】

テレビを見みながら晩ばんご飯はんを食たべる。

Eat dinner while watching television.

仕事しごとのことを考かんがえながら寝ねる。

To go to sleep thinking about work.

働はたらきながら大学だいがくを卒業そつぎょうする。

To work your way through university.

What about the order? Well, grammatically it doesn’t matter but there the final verb can be considered to be the “main” action.

テレブを見みみながら晩ばんご飯はんを食たべる。

To eat dinner while watching television.

晩ばんご飯はんを食たべながらテレビを見みる。

To watch television while eating dinner.

～ている間あいだに

【Verb: Present Participle】間あいだに

The kanji 間 we’ve seen used as a counter for time periods.

１時間じかん。

One hour.

３週間しゅうかん。

Three weeks.

In this structure 間 is a noun which the present participle is modifying to express the time period while doing something.

妊娠にんしんしている間あいだにお酒さけを控ひかえる。

To refrain from drinking while pregnant.

The critical difference between ながら and ～ている間に is that in the case of the former both actions will be performed by the speaker. On the other hand, ～ている間に is typically used when something else happens that is outside of your control while you are doing something.

昨日きのう、寝ねている間あいだに泥棒どろぼうが部屋へやに忍しのび込こんで財布さいふを盗ぬすんだ。

Yesterday while I was sleeping a burglar crept into my room and stole my wallet.

テレビを見みている間あいだに友達ともだちから電話でんわがかかってきました。

To get a phone call from a friend while watching television.