Grammar Info

N3 Lesson 1: 4/22

の間(あいだ)にWhile, During, Between, Period

Structure

Verb + 間(あいだ)に
［い］Adjective + 間(あいだ)に
［な］Adjective + な + 間(あいだ)に
Noun + の + 間(あいだ)に

Details

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About の間に

間(あいだ)に is an expression that can be used with almost any type of word, to highlight that (A) is the period/space within which something else will or did happen/exist. It may also be a period/space 'until' something else will or did happen/exist. It is a combination of the noun 間(あいだ), and the case marking particle に.

When used with verbs or い-Adjectives, 間(あいだ)に will simply follow the verb/adjective. However, の will be required after nouns, while な will be required after な-Adjectives.

When 間(あいだ)に is being used to express the period/space 'until' something happens/exists, it will be paired with まで.

With 間(あいだ)に, the (B) action/location is usually something that can or did happen/exist at a 'specific' point during (A), and does/did not take up the whole time-frame/space of (A). In this way, it can translate more literally as 'in the span of (A)'. This comes from the kanji 間(あいだ)'s common meaning as 'an interval'.

Related

Examples

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    いつも眠(ねむ)っている間(あいだ)に歯軋(はぎし)りをしてしまう。

    I always grind my teeth while I'm asleep.

    私(わたし)が暇(ひま)な間(あいだ)に、電話(でんわ)をかけてください。

    Please call me while I am free.

    仕事(しごと)に行(い)くまでの間(あいだ)に掃除(そうじ)したかったけど無理(むり)だった。

    During the time that I had before going to work I wanted to clean, but it was not possible.

    私(わたし)が家(いえ)にいる間(あいだ)に、電話(でんわ)をかけてください。

    Please call me while I am at home.

    僕(ぼく)が東京(とうきょう)に行(い)っていた５(ご)年(ねん)の間(あいだ)に、彼(かれ)は変(か)わってしまった。

    He had changed during the 5 years I was in Tokyo.

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      の間に – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (24 in total)

      • casual

        casual

        I have a question about the last review sentence.

        The article says:

        When 間に is being used to express the period/space ‘until’ something happens/exists, it will be paired with まで.

        And both examples in the article indeed use まで.
        But the last review sentence doesn’t:

        今日の午後の2時から3時の間には、荷物が届くだろう。

        Are both options correct? Or is まで required?

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @casual !

        Since 間に in this sentence is used to express the period/space ‘until’ something happens/exists, までに is required here, so we have fixed this sentence!

      • Brittanyrose37

        Brittanyrose37

        Me too - am I missing the answer somewhere?

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