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Grammar Beginner TOPIK I · Level 1–2 Sejong Korean 2 · Unit 13

-는 동안에

-는 동안에: While — Shared Stretch of Time

While / during — the main clause happens inside the time span of the first action.

Before this, make sure you know: -아요 / -어요 , (시간)에 , -고 있다

How to form it

When Form Example
Verb + present modifier -는 동안에 자다 → 자는 동안에 / 일하다 → 일하는 동안에
Noun + 동안에 N 동안에 휴가 동안에 / 수업 동안에

-는 동안에 puts one event inside another’s stretch of time.

아기가 자는 동안에 청소해요 — the cleaning fills (part of) the sleep interval. You are not saying “sleep and clean as one combined action”; you are naming the window.

Forms

ShapeUse
V-는 동안에while [verb] is going on
N 동안에during [noun time]
일하는 동안에 음악을 들어요.     I listen to music while working.
휴가 동안에 책을 많이 읽었어요.   I read a lot during the holiday.
아이가 자는 동안에 쉬세요.       Rest while the child is sleeping.

Not -(으)면서

Same unit, different job:

FormJob
-으면서 -(으)면서doing two things at once (or contrasting them)
-는 동안에overlapping duration / “during that stretch”

*음악을 들으면서 일해요 can mean you combine the two. 일하는 동안에 전화가 왔어요 means the call landed inside work time.

Not bare 에

(시간)에 에 marks a point (at three). 동안 marks length. Do not write *일함에 for this meaning — keep 동안에 as the taught chunk.

Progressive scenes

-고 있다 -고 있다 shows an action in progress. You can combine ideas (자고 있는 동안에…), but beginners should first master plain V-는 동안에 for “while X is happening.”

Do not confuse it with

-으면서

doing two things at once — and its hidden contrastive use

(시간)에

at a time — and the time words that refuse it

-고 있다

be doing — the progressive

Taught alongside this

In the Sejong course this appears in 집안일을 나눠서 하는 게 어때? — Sejong Korean 2, Unit 13, on the theme of 가정생활. These come with it:

-으면서 doing two things at once — and its hidden contrastive use

Words used above

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동안dongana stretch of time; duration
집안일jibanilhousework
자다jadato sleep
청소하다cheongsohadato clean

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. What does -는 동안에 mainly mark?

2. How does it differ from -(으)면서?

3. Which fits 'While the baby is sleeping, I clean'?

Common questions

Is 동안에 one dictionary headword?

You build it: modifier -는 + noun 동안 + particle 에. Teach it as a chunk even when dictionaries list the pieces separately.

Can I use it with adjectives?

Classroom -는 동안에 centres on verbs (and 있다-type stems). For noun time spans, use N 동안에: 휴가 동안에.

동안 vs 때?

동안 stresses duration. [[g:eul-ttae]] -을 때 points at a when-moment or situation. Overlap exists in English *while/when*, not in the Korean forms.

Do I need 에 every time?

The taught pattern is 동안에. You will also hear 동안 without 에 in some noun phrases — learn 동안에 first for this slot.