〜中（ちゅう）

Table of Contents

• The Basics
  • Pattern of Use
    • Noun + 中
    • Activity + 中
    • Duration + 中

The Basics

中（ちゅう） is a word that denotes the "inside" or "middle," and has multiple readings such as なか, ちゅう, and じゅう. When it's read as ちゅう, it typically follows a noun that's related to an activity, referring to the period of time in which that activity takes place.

For example, you can combine 食事（しょくじ） (eating) with 中（ちゅう）, to indicate time spent participating in the act of eating:

• 食事中
• while eating
  in the middle of eating

中（ちゅう） can also be used to refer to a general period of activity, like:

• 食事中は静かにしましょう
• Keep quiet during the meal.
  Keep quiet while eating.
  Keep quiet when you are eating.

But, it can also indicate a particular moment during which that activity is taking place. For example:

• 食事中に電話がかかってきた。
• I got a call during the meal.
  I got a call while eating.
  I got a call when I was eating.
  I got a call in the middle of eating.

As you can see, the translations can vary depending on context or even preference.

Note: We also have separate grammar pages for 〜中 (なか) and 〜中(じゅう), as well as an article that compares 中 and 内. If you aren't familiar with these topics, check their dedicated pages as well!

Pattern of Use

Noun + 中

You already learned that 中（ちゅう） can follow a noun. And in fact, what comes before 中（ちゅう） always has to be a noun, though it's often a verbal noun, a.k.a. a する verb. ¹

For example, 勉強 is a verbal noun that indicates the act of studying; its verb form is 勉強する. Adding する is what makes it into a verb. A word of caution, though. While you can say 勉強中（べんきょうちゅう）, you can not say 勉強する中.

• ⭕勉強中
  ❌ 勉強する中
• while studying
  in the middle of studying

So, if you can only use 中（ちゅう） with a noun, how can you talk about a period of time that you're doing something with a verb? To do this, you would use the ~ている form of the verb and a word like 時（とき） (when) or 間（あいだ） (while, during).

• 勉強している時
• when studying

• 勉強している間
• while studying

If you're not familiar with these terms, check out their dedicated pages.

Activity + 中

Earlier you learned that nouns that come before 中（ちゅう） are typically activity-related. Although you've seen a couple of examples already, let's go over a few more to make sure you have a really good grasp on how to use 中（ちゅう）. Consider a scenario where you're at work and a client calls to ask for your manager, Mr. Tanaka. If he's not available due to a meeting, you can say: ²

• 田中は今、会議中ですね。
• He's in a meeting right now.

Note that while none of the earlier translations appear here, 会議中（かいぎちゅう） indicates the period of time during which the meeting is held, and Mr. Tanaka is in the meeting.

Back to the scenario. The client says it's urgent and they really need to know if Mr. Tanaka can make good on his proposal. So, you reluctantly knock on the meeting room door. A sign on the door reads:

• 会議中
• Meeting In Progress

As in this example, 〜 中（ちゅう） is often used in signage to indicate that something is "in progress" or "in operation."

For example, shops commonly hang signs that read 営業中（えいぎょうちゅう） to indicate that they're open, and janitors place signs that read 清掃中（せいそうちゅう） to indicate that they're currently cleaning.

Now imagine that you tell Mr. Tanaka about the client's request and he is clearly unhappy about being interrupted during the meeting. After you finish explaining, he says, bluntly:

• うん、それはまだ検討中って言っといて。
• Yeah, tell them it's still under consideration.

As you can see, 〜 中（ちゅう） can be used not only in situations where the task at hand is a physical activity but a mental one. Here, 検討中 indicates that the act of considering the proposal has already begun and you're still in the middle of it.

Duration + 中

中（ちゅう） can also be paired nouns related to time, such as 期間 (period), 午前 (morning / a.m.), and 夏休み (summer break). Like its other uses, 中（ちゅう） can indicate either a general period of activity, as in "during the entire period,'' or a particular moment during which that activity is taking place as in"at some point during a certain period," depending on the context.

For example, 試験期間中（しけんきかんちゅう） means "during exam period," as it consists of 試験（しけん） (exam), 期間（きかん） (period), and 〜 中（ちゅう）. To talk about the entire time under the exam period, you could say:

• 試験期間中は、ずっとすごいストレスだった。
• I was incredibly stressed throughout the entire exam period.

And to talk about a specific point in time during the exam period, you could use 中（ちゅう） to say:

• 試験期間中に、交通事故にあった。
• During the exam period, I was in a car accident.

Let's see how it works with another time-related noun. 午前中（ごぜんちゅう） refers to the time between midnight and noon (like a.m. in English) and you can use it to talk about mornings in general, or one point in time during the morning, like this:

• 明日の午前中なら図書館にいるつもりだよ。
• If it's tomorrow morning, I'm planning to be in the library.

• 荷物は明日の午前中に届く予定です。
• The package is scheduled to be delivered tomorrow morning.

Note that you don't typically use 〜中 with 午後 (p.m.), as in 午後中. This is due to the fact that 午後 can usually be split up into additional segments, such as afternoon, evening, and night. You don't really say 午後中 because 〜中 could then refer to any time leading up to midnight, so it would be unclear which segments of 午後 you're referring to.

For these segments of time, you can simply use the more specific time-related words that refer to them without 〜中. For instance, 朝 for "morning," 昼 for "daytime" or "noonish" 午後 for "in the afternoon," 夕方 for "evening," and 夜 for "night."

Having said all that, you can say 夜中 to indicate a period of time later in the night, as in "in the middle of the night," but in this case, it's pronounced よなか and not よるちゅう.

Apart from its なか reading, 中 can also be read as じゅう. For example, 夏休み中 is pronounced なつやすみちゅう when it means "during summer vacation," but is pronounced なつやすみじゅう when it means "all the time during the summer vacation," and is never pronounced なつやすみなか. If you aren't familiar with 〜 中（じゅう）, you can learn more about it here. ³