Julia
What is the difference between (으)면서, 동안, and (으)ㄹ 때? Because they can all translate to "while/when"
Nov 17, 2017 2:16 AM
Answers · 4
1
I would translate ~면서 to "with + OBJECT + -ing/ p.p" (with an emphasis on the action?) ~동안 to "while" (with an emphasis on the duration) ~ㄹ때 to "when" No logical grounds.. but roughly. I hope this helps! 홧팅입니다!!
November 17, 2017
1
They are not all exactly the same, and they are used in different contexts. 1) "하면서" = while doing one thing...doing something else (i.e., simultaneously) 공부를하면서나는또한 놀수있다 = I can play while I am also studying 2) "동안" = while one event was happening, another unrelated event happened 내가집에없는동안 내개를훔쳤다 = While I was not not, my dog was stolen 3) "때" = refers to an occasion when something happened, or during some stage of time (e.g., "during my youth", "while my mother was still alive, "when my team won", etc.) 그때 내가이겼을때, 그는나에게 화를냈다 = That time, when I won, he got mad at me. In the last example, "때" is repeated because literally, it says, "that time, the time when I won, he got mad at me".
November 17, 2017
It appears that these don't seem interchangeable except the following sentence (but not in the reverse) : 내가집에없었을때 내 개를훔쳤다 But this sentence still makes sense in concept. "That occasion when I was not home, my dog was stolen". But it does seem to have a slightly difference sense from "while I was absent, at some point my dog was stolen" which is implied in (2) because "동안" implies an interval of time, not some definite event (in time).
November 17, 2017
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