うちに Japanese Grammar Lesson
Grammar Type: Conjunction
Essential Meaning: While / Before / During
Construction:
- Stative Verb informal nonpast + うちに
- E.g. いるうちに [While X is here]
- E.g. 話せるうちに [While X is able to speak]
- Verb informal negative nonpast + うちに
- E.g. 話さないうちに [While X hasn’t yet spoken]
- E.g. 食べないうちに [While X hasn’t yet eaten]
- Verb Progressive Form + うちに
- E.g. 話しているうちに [While X is speaking]
- E.g. 食べているうちに [While X is eating]
- い-Adjective informal nonpast + うちに
- E.g. 高いうちに [While X is expensive]
- な-Adjective Stem + なうちに
- E.g. 静かなうちに [While X is quiet]
- Durative Noun + のうちに
- E.g. 休みのうちに [During Vacation]
Notes:
- うちに in equivalent to the English “While” or “During” and expresses the general time frame during which a given action or state takes places. うちに is preceded by stative verbs (e.g. いる [To exist], progressive verbs (e.g. 食べている [Eating]), adjectives (e.g. 高い [Expensive]), or durative nouns (e.g. 春 [Spring], 昼間 [Daytime], 週間 [Week]). The tense of the verb or adjective that precedes うちに is always nonpast regardless of the tense of the main clause.
- E.g. Stative Verb: 前田さんはアメリカにいるうちに英語が上手になった。[While Maeda-san was in America, he became good at English.]
- E.g Progressive Verb: 走っているうちにおなかが痛くなった。[While I was running, my stomach began to hurt.]
- E.g. Adjective: 若いうちに本をたくさん読みなさい。[While you’re young, read many books.]
- E.g. Durative Noun: 休みのうちによく寝ておきます。[I will sleep a lot during my holiday.]
- The verb before うちに is often negated to mean “Before X” or “While X is not yet the case“.
- E.g. Negative Verb: 忘れないうちに [While I have not yet forgotten / Before I forget]
- E.g. Positive Verb: 暖かいうちに飲んでください。[Please drink it while it’s hot.]
- うちに is distinct from 間. Specifically, 間 indicates a time interval between two events or a time boundary within which some action takes place. However, in some situations it is impossible to define a discrete time boundary between two events. For example, in the sentence “I’ll play tennis before it rains“, it is impossible to know exactly when it will rain. Similarly, in the sentence “Please drink the beer while it’s still cold“, it’s impossible to put a time boundary on exactly when the beer will cease to be cold. うちに is used in such cases when the time boundary is not discreet.
- E.g. 雨が降らないうちにテニスをします。[I’ll play tennis before it rains.]
- E.g. 冷たいうちにビールを飲んでください。[Please drink the beer while it’s still cold.]
- Note that うちに can not be used after a noun that refers to an event (e.g. 授業 [Lesson] or 試合 [Match].) 間 or ちゅうに are used in such cases instead.
- E.g. *授業のうちによく質問をした。[I asked many questions during class.] うちに can not be used after a noun that refers to an event.
- E.g. 授業中によく質問をした。[I asked many questions during class.]
- E.g. 授業の間によく質問をした。[I asked many questions during class.]
- E.g. *試合のうちに雨が降ってきた。[It began to rain during the game.] うちに can not be used after a noun that refers to an event.
- E.g. 試合中に雨が降ってきた。[It began to rain during the game.]
- E.g. 試合の間に雨が降ってきた。[It began to rain during the game.]
Example Sentences:
前田さんはアメリカにいるうちに英語が上手になった。[While Maeda-san was in America, he became good at English.]
何もしないうちに今年も終わった。[Before I achieved anything, the year finished.]
走っているうちにおなかが痛くなった。[While I was running, my stomach began to hurt.]
若いうちに本をたくさん読みなさい。 [While you’re young, read many books.]
雨が降らないうちにテニスをします。[I’ll play tennis before it rains.]
忘れないうちに言っておきたいことがある。[There’s something I want to tell you before I forget.]
考えているうちにわからなくなった。[While I was thinking, I forgot.]
働けるうちにできるだけ働きたい。[I want to work as hard as I can while I am able to work.]
暖かいうちに飲んでください。[Please drink it while it’s hot.]
休みのうちによく寝ておきます。[I will sleep a lot during my holiday.]
WILD Examples:
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