Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 9: 3/16

ながらWhile ~ing, During, As

The subject of A and B must be the same.

Structure

Verb[stem]+ ながら

Details

  • Standard

About ながら

ながら is another conjunction particle in Japanese that has two primary different meanings. These meanings are as follows:

同時(どうじ)(うご)き - Two things that are existing/happening simultaneously.

確定(かくてい)逆説(ぎゃくせつ) - Two things that are unexpectedly existing/happening simultaneously.

We will focus purely on the 同時(どうじ)(うご)き meaning in this grammar point. To use ながら, simply add it to the ます stem of verb (A), and then highlight verb (B) as part of the following clause. This may be translated simply as 'while' in English.

Grammatically, the (B) action is considered to be the 'important' action, while the (A) action expresses the timeline within which (B) takes place.

Caution

Due to the (B) action being considered the 'primary' action of something that (A) is related to, (A) and (B) must have the same subject.

Fun Fact

When used to express 確定(かくてい)逆説(ぎゃくせつ), ながら will be followed by . ながらも is a separate grammar point that we will learn more about later. In this construction, is expressing surprise about the fact that (A) and (B) coexist.



Misc.

Examples

--:--

    シャワー()びながらいいアイディア(おも)いついた。

    While showering, I thought of a good idea.

    (あか)ちゃん()ながら、おならした。

    The baby farted while sleeping.

    バスに()りながら、スマホゲームている

    I am playing games on my phone, while riding the bus.

    友達(ともだち)()ちながら、コーヒー()もう。

    Let's get coffee while waiting for our friends.

    運転(うんてん)しながら携帯(けいたい)使(つか)てはいけない

    You must not use a cellphone while driving.

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      ながら – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (15 in total)

      • thelizard

        thelizard

        I didn’t think of checking the vocab section. Thank you so much.

        This means I can’t just attach ながら to any adjective but only to those set ones?

      • Asher

        Asher

        While some constructions are more common, you can attach it to pretty much any adjective and have a completely natural sentence. ながら actually has a lot of uses in Japanese that extend beyond the basic grammar point that we introduce. ながら運転 for example puts ながら at the beginning of a word rather than after to mean ‘driving while doing something’, and refers to doing stuff you’re not supposed to while driving like using your phone or watching tv on a dashboard monitor. ながら運転はダメだよ!

      • thelizard

        thelizard

        thank you for the clarifications, this helps a lot

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