JLPT | JLPT N4 | Grammar

例文(れいぶん) EXAMPLE SENTENCE

音楽(おんがく)を聴(き)きながら宿題(しゅくだい)をしました。

music-(direct object marker)-listen while-homework-did

I did my homework while listening to music.

For the second meaning of "although" or "despite," ながら is most often heard as 残念ながら (I'm afraid to say; it's too bad, but; unfortunately).

残念(ざんねん)ながら、ピーマンを全部(ぜんぶ)食(た)べなさい。

That’s too bad-green pepper-(direct object)-all-eat (command).

It’s a cryin’ shame, but eat all your veggies!

ポップコーンを食(た)べながら、映画(えいが)を見(み)ました。

popcorn | (direct object marker) | eat | while | movie | (direct object marker) | saw
(I) ate popcorn while watching a movie.

歩(ある)きながら、友達(ともだち)と話(はな)しました。

walking | while | friend | with | spoke
While walking, I talked to a friend.

COMMENTS

■  This construction shows two actions are being performed at the same time.

■  Some grammatical patterns are easy to construct. Simply take the stem of a -masu form of a verb and add ながら to mean “while (doing verb).”

聞く　－＞　 聞き ます　－＞　聞きながら (while listening)
する　－＞　 し ます　－＞　しながら (while doing)