-(으)면서 vs -는 동안: Two Ways to Say "While" in Korean
Written and reviewed by Jun and Jin, native Korean speakers
Published · How we write & review
After this page, you can choose between -(으)면서 and -는 동안 when you want to say "while" — and spot the sentences where only one of them works.
10-second answer
The short answer
Both endings translate as "while," but they answer different questions. -(으)면서 (-(eu)myeonseo) means one person is doing two things at the same time: 음악 들으면서 공부해요 (eumak deureumyeonseo gongbuhaeyo, I study while listening to music). -는 동안 (neun dongan) marks a stretch of time, and the second clause can have a different subject: 내가 숙제를 하는 동안 동생은 게임을 했다 (naega sukjereul haneun dongan dongsaengeun geimeul haetda, While I did my homework, my little brother played games).
Quick check — did that land?
1. "While I was washing the dishes, my sister watched TV." Which ending fits the first clause?
Side by Side
| -(으)면서 | -는 동안 | |
|---|---|---|
| Core idea | Two actions or states at once | A period of time ("during the time that…") |
| Subjects | Same subject in both clauses | Can be the same or different |
| Typical picture | One person multitasking | A background span: a stay, a posting, someone being away |
| Contrast ("even though") | Yes — 알면서 모르는 척해요, often with 도: -(으)면서도 | No |
| Past tense before it | Mostly in the contrast use: 알았으면서 | Never: 했는 동안 ✗ |
| Closest English | while (doing), as | while, during the time |
| Example | 음악 들으면서 공부해요 | 내가 숙제를 하는 동안 동생은 게임을 했다 |
English uses "while" for both ideas, and that's the whole reason learners mix these up. Korean splits them: -(으)면서 glues two actions onto one person, and -는 동안 opens a window of time for something else to happen inside.
The Native Test: Three Questions
When a native speaker picks between the two, it isn't a dictionary lookup. It comes down to three quick checks:
- Who's doing it? If the subject is the same in both halves, -(으)면서 is the natural choice. If the subjects differ, use -는 동안 — -(으)면서 can't join two different people.
- Is it one person truly multitasking? Listening to music while studying, eating while watching TV — one person, two things, same moment. That's -(으)면서 territory.
- Is the first half really a time frame? If it sets the background or a period — 한국에 머무는 동안 (while staying in Korea), 군대에 있는 동안 (while in the military) — use -는 동안.
Shortcut
Ask whether you could say "during the time that…" in English. If yes, -는 동안 usually fits. If the two actions are welded together in one person's body at one moment, reach for -(으)면서.
The one place you'll see two subjects with -(으)면서
The same-subject rule is about people doing things. With changes and events, news-style Korean does use -(으)면서 with two subjects, meaning "as X happened, Y happened": 날씨가 추워지면서 감기 환자가 늘었다 (As the weather got colder, cold cases went up). For your own actions, the rule holds.
Five Sentences Where Only One Works
These pairs come from a native speaker's own judgments. ✓ means natural, △ means awkward, ✗ means wrong or means something else. The sentences use the plain written -다 style common in diaries and stories.
내가 숙제를 하는 동안 동생은 게임을 했다.
naega sukjereul haneun dongan dongsaengeun geimeul haetda.
While I did my homework, my little brother played games.
✓ Two different people, so -는 동안.
내가 숙제를 하면서 동생은 게임을 했다.
naega sukjereul hamyeonseo dongsaengeun geimeul haetda.
(Intended: While I did my homework, my brother played games.)
✗ -(으)면서 needs one subject for both actions. 나 and 동생 are two people.
내가 군대에 있는 동안 책을 많이 읽었다.
naega gundae-e inneun dongan chaegeul mani ilgeotda.
While I was in the military, I read a lot of books.
✓ Military service is a period of time, and the reading happened inside it.
군대에 있으면서 책을 많이 읽었다.
gundae-e isseumyeonseo chaegeul mani ilgeotda.
While I was in the military, I read a lot of books.
✓ Also natural — here -(으)면서 treats being in the service and reading as going on side by side, while -는 동안 puts the focus on the period. In speech the 을 is often dropped: 군대에 있으면서 책 많이 읽었어.
그 사람은 돈이 많으면서 항상 없다고 거짓말을 한다.
geu sarameun doni maneumyeonseo hangsang eopdago geojinmareul handa.
He has plenty of money, yet he always lies that he doesn't.
✓ -(으)면서 can join two contrasting things true of one person — it reads like "even though." The most natural everyday way to say this, though, is with -는데도 ("even though" — -(으)ㄴ/는데 plus 도): 돈이 많은데도 항상 없다고 거짓말을 한다.
그 사람은 돈이 많은 동안 항상 없다고 거짓말을 한다.
geu sarameun doni maneun dongan hangsang eopdago geojinmareul handa.
(Intended: He has plenty of money, yet he always lies that he doesn't.)
✗ Awkward. Being rich isn't a window of time here — the point is the contrast, and 동안 can't carry it.
친구는 울면서 나에게 미안하다고 말했다.
chinguneun ulmyeonseo na-ege mianhadago malhaetda.
My friend told me they were sorry, crying as they said it.
✓ Crying and speaking are tied together in one body at one moment — exactly what -(으)면서 is for.
친구는 우는 동안 나에게 미안하다고 말했다.
chinguneun uneun dongan na-ege mianhadago malhaetda.
(Intended: My friend told me they were sorry, crying as they said it.)
△ Very unnatural. It turns the crying into a time period, as if the apology happened somewhere "during the crying phase."
부모님이 여행을 가신 동안 집에서 파티를 열었다.
bumonimi yeohaengeul gasin dongan jibeseo patireul yeoreotda.
While my parents were away on a trip, I threw a party at home.
✓ The parents being gone is the window; the party happened inside it.
부모님이 여행을 가시면서 집에서 파티를 열었다.
bumonimi yeohaengeul gasimyeonseo jibeseo patireul yeoreotda.
(Reads as: My parents threw a party at home as they set off on their trip.)
✗ With -(으)면서 both halves share one subject, and 부모님 is the only subject — so the parents become the party throwers, which also clashes with the honorific (가시- but plain 열었다). Even fixed to 여셨다, it's still odd: you can't be leaving on a trip and throwing a party at the same moment. If that's what happened, Korean orders the events instead: 부모님이 여행 가시기 전에 파티를 여셨다 — they threw a party, then left.
Notice the pattern in pair 1: 동생은 uses the topic marker to set the brother against "me" — the contrast use covered in 은/는 vs 이/가. That second subject is exactly what rules out -(으)면서.
How to Attach Them
| Form | Attaches to | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| -면서 | Stem ending in a vowel or ㄹ, and after -시- | 가다 → 가면서, 울다 → 울면서, 가시다 → 가시면서 |
| -으면서 | Stem ending in a consonant | 먹다 → 먹으면서, 많다 → 많으면서, 듣다 → 들으면서 |
| -는 동안 | Action verb stem, plus 있다 / 없다 / 계시다 | 하다 → 하는 동안, 있다 → 있는 동안, 없다 → 없는 동안, 울다 → 우는 동안 |
| -(으)ㄴ 동안 | Some action verbs, for the time after the action while its result lasts (less common) | 가다 → 간 동안, 가시다 → 가신 동안 |
| Noun + 동안 | A noun of time | 방학 동안, 3년 동안 |
| Noun + (이)면서 | A noun, meaning "both X and Y" | 가수 → 가수이면서, 학생 → 학생이면서 |
Whether you add 으 depends on the final consonant, or 받침. ㄹ stems are the exception: 울다 becomes 울면서, not 울으면서. 듣다 is irregular, so its ㄷ turns into ㄹ: 들으면서.
The -(으)ㄴ 동안 form in pair 5 is worth a second look. 가는 동안 would mean "while they were on the way." 가신 동안 means "during the time after they had left" — while they were away. The 시 in 가신 is honorific because the subject is the parents; see Korean honorific verbs.
Tense: -는 동안 never takes a past-tense marker — 했는 동안 is wrong. The final verb carries the tense for the whole sentence: in 군대에 있는 동안 책을 많이 읽었다, it sits on 읽었다 (see the past tense -았/-었). The same goes for -(으)면서 meaning "at the same time." You'll mainly see -었- before -(으)면서 in its contrast use, as in the Korean Basic Dictionary's example 지수는 사실을 알고 있었으면서 아무에게도 말하지 않았다 (Jisu knew the truth, yet told no one).
음악 들으면서 공부해요.
eumak deureumyeonseo gongbuhaeyo.
I study while listening to music.
The classic one-person multitask, in everyday polite -아요/-어요 style. In speech the object marker 을 is usually dropped — 음악 들으면서 is far more common than 음악을 들으면서.
방학 동안 뭐 했어요?
banghak dongan mwo haesseoyo?
What did you do over the break?
Noun + 동안: no -는 needed.
-(으)면서도: When "While" Means "Even Though"
Dictionaries give -(으)면서 two meanings: two actions or states happening together, and two actions or states that clash. Pair 3 above — 돈이 많으면서 항상 없다고 거짓말을 한다 — is the second one. Adding the particle 도 ("even") makes the clash impossible to miss, so -(으)면서도 is a common way to say "even though" about one person or thing. -는 동안 has no contrast meaning at all.
알면서도 모르는 척했어요.
almyeonseodo moreuneun cheokaesseoyo.
I knew, but I pretended not to.
ㄹ stem: 알다 → 알면서도.
이 식당은 싸면서도 맛있어요.
i sikdangeun ssamyeonseodo masisseoyo.
This restaurant is cheap, yet the food is good.
Two adjectives that you wouldn't expect together.
그는 가수이면서 배우예요.
geuneun gasu-imyeonseo baeuyeyo.
He's both a singer and an actor.
Noun + (이)면서 = both at once — no contrast here.
For a contrast between two different people or two separate facts, reach for -(으)ㄴ/는데 or -는데도 instead — -(으)면서도 usually wants one subject.
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1 — Using -(으)면서 with two different people
"While I cooked, my roommate cleaned" has two subjects, so it needs -는 동안. -(으)면서 only joins actions done by one person.
Mistake #2 — Using -는 동안 for actions welded together
Crying while talking, smiling while waving: when one person does two things in the same breath, -는 동안 sounds strangely clinical. Use -(으)면서.
Mistake #3 — Getting the 으 wrong
먹면서 and 울으면서 are both wrong. It's 먹으면서 (consonant stem, add 으) and 울면서 (ㄹ stem, no 으).
Mistake #4 — Putting past tense before 동안
먹었는 동안 and 갔는 동안 don't exist. Keep 동안 in the present form (먹는 동안) and let the last verb show the past: 내가 먹는 동안 친구가 기다렸어요 (My friend waited while I ate).
Once these feel natural, try -(으)ㄴ/는데, the connector Koreans use to set up background before the main point.
Mini Quiz
2. 친구는 ___ 나에게 미안하다고 말했다. (My friend said sorry, crying as they said it.)
3. What does 부모님이 여행을 가신 동안 mean?
4. He has plenty of money but always says he's broke. Which sentence sounds most natural in everyday Korean?
5. Choose the correct form: 친구를 ___ 동안 비가 왔어요. (It rained while I was waiting for my friend.)
Related Knowledge
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-느라고 vs -는 바람에: Two Ways to Say 'Because' in Korean
Another pair that English squeezes into one word — this time "because" — while Korean splits it in two.
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