間 (に) - あいだ (に) (aida ni) - while; during; between
How to use:
Verb + 間 (に)
I-Adj + 間 (に)
Na. Adj + な + 間 (に)
Noun + の + 間 (に)
間（あいだ） / 間に（あいだに）
Both mean “during a time period,” but they are used in different ways depending on whether something lasts the whole time or happens once inside that time.
① 間（あいだ） = “during the whole time”
Use this when something happens for the entire duration of another action or period.
The action continues throughout the whole period
Examples:
9時から5時までの間
“Between 9 and 5”
散歩している間、ずっと雨が降っていた
“It rained the whole time I was walking.”
しばらくの間、村には戻れない
“I can’t return to the village for a while.”
It is often paired with words like ずっと (“all the time”) to emphasize continuity.
“For the entire time X is happening…”
② 間に（あいだに） = “sometime during that time”
Use this when something happens once inside a time period, not for the whole duration
Something happens inside the time window, at a specific moment
Examples:
散歩している間に、雨が降り始めた
“It started raining while I was walking.”
迷っている間に、お店が閉まっちゃった
“The shop closed while I was hesitating.”
“At some point during X…”
As に marks the point where the action occurs, IN that interval of time
Easy way to remember
間 = the whole time (continuous background)
間に = one event happens inside that time"
雨の間、家にいた。
“I stayed home during the rain.”
雨の間に、買い物した。
“I went shopping while it was raining / during the rain.”