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Korean 「-던 중에」 is used when looking back on something that was in progress in the past. In Chinese, it is often translated as “正在……時” or “……的過程中.” The tricky part is that 「-는 중에」 can also be used perfectly naturally in past-tense narratives, so you cannot simply decide that 「-던 중에」 is required just because the event happened in the past.

In a sentence like 「자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요」, the sentence first places the focus on the fact that “the speaker was still checking the materials at the time,” and then says that the error was discovered during that process. If it is changed to 「자료를 확인하는 중에 오류를 발견했어요」, it can still describe something that happened in the past, but it loses some of the sense of looking back on the situation at that time. If it is changed to 「자료를 확인하다가 오류를 발견했어요」, the focus shifts more easily to the point at which “the speaker was checking the materials and then discovered an error partway through.”

All three patterns may be translated into Chinese as “途中” or “正在……時,” so they can look very similar in Chinese, but Korean does not treat them in exactly the same way. Whether the first action is simply there to explain what someone was doing at the time, or whether the sentence is moving from that action into another event, directly affects how the forms are actually used.

What does Korean 「-던 중에」 mean? It describes something that was in progress in the past

「-던 중에」 consists of 「-던＋중＋에」. When 「-던」 follows a verb, it often brings out the meaning of something that was ongoing in the past, happened repeatedly, or had not yet been completed at that time. 「중」 is a dependent noun, and here it means “during the period or process of doing something.” Put together, the expression creates a temporal background that looks back on a past scene in which someone was still in the middle of doing something.

For example, 「집에 가던 중에 전화가 왔어요」 first establishes the background that “I was on my way home at the time,” and then places “a phone call came” within that journey. The first action does not necessarily stop completely because of what happens in the second clause, but the narrative focus usually shifts to the later event. If you want to understand the past-oriented nuance of 「-던」 itself, it is helpful to first look at the difference between Korean 「-던／-었던」. That makes it easier to understand why an ordinary past adnominal form is not used here.

How to attach 「-던 중에」: add it directly to the verb stem

「-던 중에」 is mainly attached to verbs that express actions, and the attachment pattern is straightforward: remove 「다」 from the dictionary form of the verb, then add 「-던 중에」. For example, 「읽다」 becomes 「읽던 중에」, 「공부하다」 becomes 「공부하던 중에」, and 「가다」 becomes 「가던 중에」. Here, 「던」 does not undergo a separate conjugation together with the verb. It is attached directly to the verb stem, so the verb does not first need to be changed into a past-tense form. With 「먹다」, for example, you say 「먹던 중에」. You would not use 「먹었던 중에」 simply to mean “while eating.” If 「-었던」 appears, the nuance concerning whether the preceding action was completed changes as well, so it cannot simply be treated as a past-tense replacement for 「-던」.

Spacing also matters. 「중」 is a dependent noun, so it must be separated from the verb before it. The correct forms are therefore 「공부하던 중에」 and 「자료를 확인하던 중에」, not 「공부하던중에」 or 「확인하던중에」. The particle 「에」 attaches directly to 「중」 and does not require another space. In actual sentences, 「에」 is also often omitted, leaving only 「-던 중」. For example, 「서류를 정리하던 중 오래된 사진을 발견했어요」 still means “I found an old photo while organizing documents.” It is simply a more concise form than 「정리하던 중에」.

Attachment type	Pattern	Example
Regular verb	Verb stem＋던 중에	읽다 → 읽던 중에
하다 verb	Noun＋하던 중에	공부하다 → 공부하던 중에
Motion verb	Verb stem＋던 중에	가다 → 가던 중에
Omitting 「에」	Verb stem＋던 중	확인하다 → 확인하던 중
Noun＋중에	Noun＋중에	회의 중에／여행 중에

The final row, 「회의 중에」「여행 중에」, uses a different attachment pattern from 「-던 중에」. 「회의 중에」 is 「noun＋중에」 and simply treats “during the meeting” as a period of time. 「회의하던 중에」, by contrast, treats “having a meeting” as an action that was in progress at the time and then looks back on what happened during that process. For that reason, both 「회의 중에 전화가 왔어요」 and 「회의하던 중에 전화가 왔어요」 can be translated as “A call came during the meeting,” but the first sentence simply states that the call came during the meeting, while the second sounds more like someone is recalling that they were in a meeting at the time and the call came right then.

The same applies to 「여행 중에」, which means “during a trip.” If it is changed to 「여행하던 중에」, “traveling” is treated as an action that was in progress at the time. However, in actual Korean, if you simply want to say that something happened during a trip, 「여행 중에」 will usually sound more natural. 「-던 중에」 is more commonly used with verbs such as 「확인하다、정리하다、찾다、가다、일하다」, where the progression of an action is easy to perceive.

How is Korean 「-던 중에」 used? Three common situations

Usage ① of 「-던 중에」｜Looking back on an event that happened while something was in progress

The most basic use of 「-던 중에」 is to first establish that something was still in progress in the past, and then state that another event occurred during that process. The second clause may describe a phone call arriving, someone appearing, the weather changing, or simply a new situation arising. In Chinese, translations such as “正在……時” and “……的過程中” are usually natural.

• Example:  집에 가던 중에 친구에게서 전화가 왔어요.
  Romanization: ji-be ga-deon jung-e chin-gu-e-ge-seo jeon-hwa-ga wa-sseo-yo
  Translation: While I was on my way home, a friend called me.
  「가던」 sets “going home” as an action that was still in progress at the time, and the phone call occurred during that journey.
• Example:  책을 읽던 중에 밖에서 큰 소리가 났어요.
  Romanization: chae-geul ik-deon jung-e bak-kke-seo keun so-ri-ga na-sseo-yo
  Translation: While I was partway through reading a book, there was a loud noise outside.
  The second clause describes a new event that enters during the first action, while the reading serves only as the temporal background.
• Example:  운동하던 중에 갑자기 비가 내리기 시작했어요.
  Romanization: un-dong-ha-deon jung-e gap-ja-gi bi-ga nae-ri-gi si-jak-hae-sseo-yo
  Translation: It suddenly started raining while I was exercising.
  「갑자기」 often appears in this type of narrative because the later event frequently happens suddenly in the middle of something that was already in progress.

Usage ② of 「-던 중에」｜Discovering, finding, or noticing new information while working on something

「-던 중에」 also frequently appears with activities that have a clear process, such as “searching for information,” “organizing things,” or “checking content.” In these cases, the second clause can directly state that a discovery happened during the process, and the first action does not necessarily stop because of it. This is also a natural way to explain the course of events at work or in written narration.

• Example:  방을 정리하던 중에 잃어버린 반지를 발견했어요.
  Romanization: bang-eul jeong-ni-ha-deon jung-e il-eo-beo-rin ban-ji-reul bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo
  Translation: While organizing the room, I found the ring I had lost earlier.
  The focus is on the fact that a new discovery occurred during the process of organizing. It does not have to mean that the room cleaning was forced to stop.
• Example:  자료를 찾던 중에 필요한 통계를 발견했어요.
  Romanization: ja-ryo-reul chat-deon jung-e pil-yo-han tong-gye-reul bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo
  Translation: While looking for materials, I found the statistics I needed.
  This type of sentence is well suited to explaining how a particular piece of information was found.
• Example:  서랍을 정리하던 중에 예전 사진을 찾았어요.
  Romanization: seo-ra-beul jeong-ni-ha-deon jung-e ye-jeon sa-jin-eul cha-ja-sseo-yo
  Translation: While organizing a drawer, I found an old photo.
  The second clause describes a result that arose while the first action was in progress, but the focus still remains partly on the background that “I was organizing at the time.”

What is the difference between 「-던 중에」「-는 중에」「-다가」? Comparing three ways to express “in the middle of”

「-던 중에」「-는 중에」「-다가」 can all be used when “the first action is still in progress and another event occurs,” so in Chinese they are often translated with similar expressions such as “正在……時,” “……途中,” or “……的過程中.” The difference does not lie in which Chinese expression should be chosen, but in how the Korean sentence views the first action. 「-는 중에」 treats the first action as a stretch of time that is in progress and mainly explains what was happening when the later event occurred. 「-던 중에」 can also use the first action as a temporal background, but with 「-던」 it carries the sense of looking back from the present at a past situation, in which the first action was still underway. 「-다가」, by contrast, directly connects the two events and shows that the later event appeared while the first action was in progress. In some sentences, this leads to the first action being interrupted or replaced by another action, while in others it simply means that another event occurred during the process. It does not necessarily mean that the first action stopped. Materials from the National Institute of Korean Language also explain that 「-던」 can carry meanings such as recollection, incompletion, continuation, or repetition, while 「-다가」 includes both “switching to another action after the first action stops” and “another action appearing while the first action is in progress.” It therefore should not be memorized as 「-는 중에＝present、-던 중에＝past、-다가＝interruption」.

Comparison item	「-는 중에」	「-던 중에」	「-다가」
Basic form	V-는 중에	V-던 중에	V-다가
Common Chinese translation	正在……時、……的過程中	當時正在……時、……的途中	做……時、做到一半……、……途中
Role of the first action	Explains what was in progress when the event occurred	Looks back and explains what was in progress at that time in the past	Directly connects to another event that occurs during the action
Sense of time	Does not itself equal the present tense and can also be used in past narratives	Has a past-oriented perspective and often feels like looking back on the situation at that time	Time is determined by the whole sentence and is not limited to the present or past
Relationship between the two events	The later event happens while the first action is in progress	The later event occurs within a process that was ongoing at some point in the past	The later event appears while the first action is underway
Does the first action necessarily stop?	Not necessarily	Not necessarily	Not necessarily; some sentences involve interruption or a switch, while others simply describe another event occurring partway through
What the sentence focuses on	The period of “what was happening at that time”	The past situation of “what was happening then”	“What happened next while the action was underway”
Common situations	Describing time spent working, attending class, eating, checking materials, and other ongoing activities	Recounting past events or explaining the process in which something happened	Something suddenly happening, discovering something, changing to another action, or a change occurring partway through an action
Example	자료를 확인하는 중에 오류를 발견했어요.	자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요.	자료를 확인하다가 오류를 발견했어요.
General nuance	I found an error while checking the materials	I found an error while I was checking the materials at the time	I was checking the materials and found an error partway through

▌Difference between 「-던 중에」 and 「-는 중에」｜Looking back on what was happening then vs describing an ongoing period

Both 「-던 중에」 and 「-는 중에」 can use the first action as the temporal background for the event in the second clause. The main difference is not “past tense versus present tense,” because a past-tense verb can follow 「-는 중에」 without any problem. 「-는 중에」 simply states the period during which an action is in progress, such as “I found a ring while cleaning the room.” When it is changed to 「-던 중에」, it adds the sense of “looking back now on what was happening then,” as if someone is recounting the events of cleaning the room that day and mentioning that the ring was found at that time. The two sentences can describe exactly the same event, but 「-던 중에」 leaves the still-unfinished past action more clearly present in the sentence. 「중」 itself is a dependent noun meaning “the period during which something is being done,” and official dictionaries list forms such as both 「공부하는 중」 and 「정리하던 중」.

• Example: 방을 정리하던 중에 반지를 발견했어요.
  Romanization: bang-eul jeong-ni-ha-deon jung-e ban-ji-reul bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo.
  Translation: I found a ring while I was cleaning the room at the time.
  This sentence sounds like someone is looking back on the process of cleaning the room. It first brings in the situation that “I was still cleaning at the time,” and then says that the ring was found during that process.
• Example: 방을 정리하는 중에 반지를 발견했어요.
  Romanization: bang-eul jeong-ni-ha-neun jung-e ban-ji-reul bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo.
  Translation: I found a ring while I was cleaning the room.
  This sentence simply explains that the speaker was cleaning the room when the ring was found. Even though 「발견했어요」 is in the past tense, 「-는 중에」 can still be used. There is no need to change it to 「-던 중에」 simply because the overall event happened in the past.

▌Difference between 「-던 중에」 and 「-다가」｜Recounting the process at the time vs moving directly to what happened partway through

When 「-던 중에」 and 「-다가」 are used in the same situation, the chronological relationship between the events may not differ very much, but the way the situation is narrated does. 「-던 중에」 first turns the preceding action into a past situation and then explains what happened within that situation. 「-다가」, on the other hand, connects directly from the first action to the later event, so it reads more like events progressed to that point and then something else happened. With “a friend called while I was on my way home,” 「집에 가던 중에」 is closer to answering “What were you doing when the call came?” while 「집에 가다가」 is closer to narrating “What happened while you were on your way home?” In addition, although 「-다가」 often appears in sentences where the first action is interrupted and the person switches to something else, official dictionaries also list a separate use in which “another action appears while an action is in progress.” Therefore, seeing 「-다가」 does not automatically mean that the first action definitely stopped.

• Example: 집에 가던 중에 친구에게서 전화가 왔어요.
  Romanization: ji-be ga-deon jung-e chin-gu-e-ge-seo jeon-hwa-ga wa-sseo-yo.
  Translation: While I was on my way home at the time, a friend called me.
  This sentence first places “I was going home at the time” within a past situation, and then says that the friend’s call came during that journey. It is well suited to looking back and explaining the circumstances in which the event happened.
• Example: 집에 가다가 친구에게서 전화가 왔어요.
  Romanization: ji-be ga-da-ga chin-gu-e-ge-seo jeon-hwa-ga wa-sseo-yo.
  Translation: A friend called me while I was on my way home.
  This sentence moves directly from “going home” to “a friend called,” so the narration progresses more strongly toward the later event. The call does not necessarily mean that the speaker stopped going home. Here, 「-다가」 simply means that another event occurred while the speaker was on the way home.

▌Difference between 「-는 중에」 and 「-다가」｜An ongoing period vs an event that occurs during the action

Both 「-는 중에」 and 「-다가」 can express that something happens while another action is in progress, but 「-는 중에」 is more like first defining a period of time and then placing the later event inside that period. 「-다가」 follows the first action forward and directly connects it to what happens during it. For example, in “the phone rang while I was watching a movie,” using 「영화를 보는 중에」 explains that the speaker was watching a movie when the phone call came. Changing it to 「영화를 보다가」 sounds more like “I was partway through watching the movie, and then the phone rang.” Both are natural, and neither means that the movie necessarily stopped because of the call. However, 「-다가」 more easily makes the phone call stand out as the next event in the narrative. One of the official dictionary definitions of 「-다가」 is precisely “another action occurs while an action is in progress,” so there is no need to separately assume that the first action has already been interrupted in this type of sentence.

• Example: 영화를 보는 중에 전화가 왔어요.
  Romanization: yeong-hwa-reul bo-neun jung-e jeon-hwa-ga wa-sseo-yo.
  Translation: The phone rang while I was watching a movie.
  This sentence says that the time when the call came fell within the process of watching the movie. “Watching a movie” mainly serves to explain what the speaker was doing at the time.
• Example: 영화를 보다가 전화가 왔어요.
  Romanization: yeong-hwa-reul bo-da-ga jeon-hwa-ga wa-sseo-yo.
  Translation: I was partway through watching a movie when the phone rang.
  This sentence moves directly from watching the movie to the phone call, so the later event stands out more strongly. In reality, the speaker may have continued watching after taking the call, or may have stopped because of it. 「-다가」 by itself does not tell us whether the first action ultimately continued.

▌The nuance of 「-는 중에」「-던 중에」「-다가」 in the same situation: discovering an error while checking materials

All three patterns work in the same situation of “discovering an error while checking materials.” What actually changes is which part the speaker places more prominently in the sentence. 「-는 중에」 simply says that the error was discovered during the process of checking the materials, so it is suitable for directly explaining when the discovery happened. 「-던 중에」 makes the sentence sound more like a retrospective explanation that “I was checking the materials at the time,” so it works especially well for explaining how something happened. 「-다가」 directly connects “checking the materials” and “discovering the error,” making it sound more like the speaker reached a certain point in the checking process and then found a problem. All three can be translated into Chinese as “確認資料時發現錯誤,” but the Korean form chosen determines whether the narrative remains focused on “the process at the time” or moves toward “what happened partway through.”

• Example: 자료를 확인하는 중에 오류를 발견했어요.
  Romanization: ja-ryo-reul hwa-gin-ha-neun jung-e o-ryu-reul bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo.
  Translation: I found an error while checking the materials.
  This sentence simply explains that the error was discovered during the period of checking the materials. “Checking the materials” is an ongoing period of time. It does not particularly emphasize that the speaker is looking back on the past, nor does it frame the discovery of the error as a clear shift in action.
• Example: 자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요.
  Romanization: ja-ryo-reul hwa-gin-ha-deon jung-e o-ryu-reul bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo.
  Translation: I found an error while I was checking the materials at the time.
  This sentence sounds like someone is explaining afterward how the error was found. It brings the time back to the process of checking the materials and then says that the error was discovered at that point. It is very natural as an answer to 「오류는 어떻게 찾았어요?（錯誤是怎麼找到的？）」.
• Example: 자료를 확인하다가 오류를 발견했어요.
  Romanization: ja-ryo-reul hwa-gin-ha-da-ga o-ryu-reul bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo.
  Translation: I was checking the materials and found an error partway through.
  This sentence sounds more like events are being narrated in sequence: “I was checking the materials, and along the way I found an error.” The listener’s attention is more easily drawn to the later event of “finding the error,” but it does not mean that the work of checking the materials necessarily stopped there.

A common mistake with 「-던 중에」: a past event does not automatically require 「-던」

When people see past-tense forms such as 「전화가 왔어요」「발견했어요」「문제가 생겼어요」, it is easy to assume that the first part must also use 「-던 중에」. However, the difference between 「-는 중에」 and 「-던 중에」 cannot be determined simply by whether the overall event happened in the past. 「-는 중에」 itself treats an ongoing action as a period of time, so even if the later event has already happened, 「-는 중에」 can still be used in the first part. 「-던 중에」, on the other hand, adds the past-oriented perspective created by 「-던」, placing the first action back into the situation as it was at the time.

For example, both 「회의하는 중에 전화가 왔어요」 and 「회의하던 중에 전화가 왔어요」 are valid. The first explains that “the speaker was in a meeting when the call came,” with 「회의하는 중에」 mainly indicating the period in which the call arrived. The second sounds more like someone is later recalling the situation and saying, “I was in a meeting at the time, and that was when the call came.” Both describe something that happened in the past, so they cannot be distinguished simply as “present event＝-는 중에, past event＝-던 중에.”

• Example: 회의하는 중에 전화가 왔어요.
  Romanization: hoe-ui-ha-neun jung-e jeon-hwa-ga wa-sseo-yo.
  Translation: The phone rang while I was in a meeting.
  In this sentence, 「-는 중에」 explains that the meeting was in progress when the call came. Even though 「왔어요」 is in the past tense, 「-는 중에」 can still be used in the first part.
• Example: 회의하던 중에 전화가 왔어요.
  Romanization: hoe-ui-ha-deon jung-e jeon-hwa-ga wa-sseo-yo.
  Translation: The phone rang while I was in a meeting at the time.
  Once 「-던」 is added, the sentence sounds more like the speaker is now looking back on the situation of being in a meeting and then saying that the call came at that point.

Another common problem is understanding 「-던 중에」 directly as the past-tense version of 「-는 중에」. In reality, 「-던」 itself carries the sense of a past state, continuation, or something that was still in progress, so the difference between the two forms is not simply a matter of chronological time. 「자료를 확인하는 중에 오류를 발견했어요」 says that the error was discovered during the period of checking the materials. 「자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요」 adds the sense of looking back afterward and explaining that “I was checking the materials at the time.” The actual event being described may be the same, but the speaker’s way of viewing the first action is not identical.

「-던 중에」 should also not be treated as directly synonymous with 「-다가」. Both can express that another event occurred while an action was in progress, but 「-던 중에」 is more often used to establish what was happening at the time and then say what occurred during that process. 「-다가」 directly connects the two events, so attention moves more easily toward the change or next event that happened partway through. For example, 「자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요」 is well suited to answering “Under what circumstances did you find the error?” 「자료를 확인하다가 오류를 발견했어요」 sounds more like a chronological account: “I was checking the materials and found an error partway through.” However, 「-다가」 does not necessarily mean that the first action was interrupted. Whether the speaker continued checking the materials afterward still depends on the rest of the context.

Finally, pay attention to the spacing of 「중」. Here, 「중」 is a dependent noun, so there must be a space before it. The correct forms are 「확인하던 중에」「회의하는 중에」, not 「확인하던중에」「회의하는중에」. The same rule applies to 「noun＋중」 forms such as 「회의 중」 and 「여행 중」. When deciding between 「-는 중에」 and 「-던 중에」, it is better not to start by looking at whether the verb in the second clause is in the past tense. Instead, ask whether the first action is simply explaining “what was happening when the event occurred,” or whether the speaker is retrospectively referring to “what was happening at that time.” This makes it easier to avoid treating 「-던」 as nothing more than a past-tense marker.

How is Korean 「-던 중에」 actually used? Examples from work and travel situations

In everyday Korean, 「-던 중에」 is often used to explain “during what process” something happened. It works well in situations such as discovering an error while rechecking materials, suddenly encountering rain while returning to a hotel, or finding an object that had previously been lost while organizing things. These situations share one feature: the speaker is already speaking from a point after the event happened, looks back at the action that was in progress at the time, and then explains what occurred during that process. For that reason, 「-던 중에」 often appears when explaining how something happened or answering questions such as “How did you find it?” or “What happened then?” The first action does not necessarily stop because of the later event. For example, 「집에 가던 중에 전화가 왔어요」 only says that a phone call came while the speaker was on the way home. The sentence itself does not say whether the speaker continued going home afterward.

▌Situation ①｜Explaining at work how an error was discovered

A：오류는 어떻게 찾았어요?
　　o-ryu-neun eo-tteo-ke cha-ja-sseo-yo?
　　How did you find the error?

B：자료를 다시 확인하던 중에 발견했어요.
　　ja-ryo-reul da-si hwa-gin-ha-deon jung-e bal-gyeon-hae-sseo-yo.
　　I found it while rechecking the materials.

📌 Grammar Point: 「자료를 다시 확인하던 중에」 looks back and explains what the speaker was doing at the time the error was found. It does not simply mean “I found the error after checking the materials.” Instead, the error was discovered while the process of checking the materials was still underway. When explaining at work how a problem was found or at what stage something happened, 「-던 중에」 is very natural. Examples include 「보고서를 검토하던 중에 발견했어요（是在檢查報告時發現的）」 and 「메일을 확인하던 중에 알게 됐어요（是在確認郵件時知道的）」.

▌Situation ②｜Encountering heavy rain while returning to the hotel during a trip

A：왜 이렇게 늦었어요?
　　wae i-reo-ke neu-jeo-sseo-yo?
　　Why are you so late?

B：호텔로 돌아가던 중에 비가 너무 많이 와서 카페에 잠깐 있었어요.
　　ho-tel-lo dol-a-ga-deon jung-e bi-ga neo-mu ma-ni wa-seo ka-pe-e jam-kkan i-sseo-sseo-yo.
　　It rained so heavily while I was on my way back to the hotel that I stayed in a café for a while.

📌 Grammar Point: 「호텔로 돌아가던 중에」 first takes the listener back to “the time when I was on my way back to the hotel” and then explains that heavy rain occurred at that point. 「-던」 works especially well when someone is explaining afterward what just happened, so it sounds natural as an answer to questions such as “Why are you so late?” or “What happened on the way?” The sentence also does not mean that the plan to return to the hotel was canceled. The speaker simply went into a café for a while to avoid the rain and could continue back to the hotel afterward.

▌Situation ③｜Finding something previously lost while organizing things

A：그 반지 찾았어요?
　　geu ban-ji cha-ja-sseo-yo?
　　Did you find that ring?

B：네. 어제 방을 정리하던 중에 우연히 찾았어요.
　　ne. eo-je bang-eul jeong-ni-ha-deon jung-e u-yeon-hi cha-ja-sseo-yo.
　　Yes. I happened to find it yesterday while cleaning my room.

📌 Grammar Point: 「방을 정리하던 중에」 does not mean that the speaker was originally cleaning the room in order to look for the ring. Instead, “finding the ring” happened as a separate event while the room cleaning was in progress. This is why 「-던 중에」 frequently appears with later expressions such as 「발견하다（發現）」「찾다（找到）」「알게 되다（得知）」「문제가 생기다（出現問題）」. These are all things that can easily happen unexpectedly while another activity is underway. 「서류를 정리하던 중에 예전 계약서를 찾았어요（整理文件時找到以前的合約）」 is another example of the same use.

Additional usage notes:

1. 「-던 중에」 is particularly suitable for answering “Under what circumstances did that happen?” For example, 「어떻게 발견했어요?（怎麼發現的？）」 can be answered with 「자료를 확인하던 중에 발견했어요（確認資料時發現的）」. 「언제 전화가 왔어요?（什麼時候打電話來的？）」 can likewise be answered with 「집에 가던 중에 전화가 왔어요（回家途中打來的）」. The first action explains the situation at the time, while the later part contains the event the speaker actually wants to talk about.
2. 「-던 중에」 does not mean that the later event necessarily interrupted the first action. 「운전하던 중에 전화가 왔어요」 only means that a call came while the person was driving. The sentence alone does not tell us whether the person stopped the car, answered the phone, or continued driving. If you want to express a clearer change in which someone stops one action partway through and does something else, 「-다가」 is often used instead. For example, 「공부하다가 친구를 만나러 나갔어요（讀書讀到一半，出去見朋友了）」.
3. In everyday Korean, combinations such as 「가던 중에、확인하던 중에、정리하던 중에、찾던 중에、이야기하던 중에、일하던 중에」 are very common. What they have in common is not one fixed Chinese translation, but the fact that the speaker is looking back from the present at an action that was still in progress in the past and explaining what happened during that period. For that reason, 「집에 가던 중에」 can be translated as “on the way home,” 「자료를 확인하던 중에」 as “while checking the materials,” and 「회의하던 중에」 as “during the meeting” or “while the meeting was in progress,” depending on the context. There is no need to force every sentence into an equivalent of “正在……的過程中.”

How should Korean 「-던 중에」 be understood in comparison with Japanese 「〜ている途中で」?

When translating Korean 「-던 중에」 into Japanese, 「〜ている途中で」 is an easy form to think of first because both can express that one action is still in progress when another event occurs during that process. For example, 「자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요」 can be translated as 「資料を確認している途中で、ミスを見つけました」. Both sentences say that the material checking had not yet finished when the error was discovered. However, the two constructions are not completely equivalent. Japanese 「途中」 itself directly indicates that something has not been completed and is still at an intermediate stage. Korean 「-던 중에」 not only has the meaning of “in the middle of an action,” but the preceding 「-던」 also gives the sentence a sense of looking back from the present on a past situation. For that reason, some sentences can also be rendered in Japanese with 「〜ていたところ」 in addition to 「〜ている途中で」, particularly when explaining afterward that “I was doing something at the time, and then something happened right then.”

◆ Similar grammar: 「〜ている途中で」

Japanese 「〜ている途中で」 indicates that an action is currently in progress and has not yet reached completion, and that the later event happens during that process. This is quite close to Korean 「-던 중에」, so situations such as discovering an error while checking materials, finding something while organizing a room, or having a computer suddenly stop while writing a report can be compared directly. However, the Japanese construction itself mainly expresses “being partway through an action” and does not have as strong a retrospective nuance as Korean 「-던」. The time reference in Japanese is usually determined together with the tense of the later clause and the broader context.

• Example: 資料を確認している途中で、ミスを見つけました。
  Kana: しりょうを かくにんしている とちゅうで、ミスを みつけました。
  Translation: I found an error while checking the materials.
  In Korean, this can be expressed as 「자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요」. Both sentences indicate that the material checking was still underway and the error was found during that process. However, because Korean uses 「-던」, it more easily carries the sense of “looking back now on what was happening at the time” than the Japanese sentence does.
• Example: 部屋を片づけている途中で、なくした指輪を見つけました。
  Kana: へやを かたづけている とちゅうで、なくした ゆびわを みつけました。
  Translation: I found the ring I had lost while I was partway through cleaning the room.
  In Korean, this can be expressed as 「방을 정리하던 중에 잃어버린 반지를 찾았어요」. The room cleaning had not yet finished, and the ring was found during that process, so expressions indicating an ongoing process work well in both languages.
• Example: レポートを書いている途中で、パソコンが急に止まりました。
  Kana: レポートを かいている とちゅうで、パソコンが きゅうに とまりました。
  Translation: The computer suddenly stopped while I was partway through writing a report.
  In Korean, this can be expressed as 「보고서를 쓰던 중에 컴퓨터가 갑자기 멈췄어요」. The preceding task had not yet been completed when another event suddenly occurred. In sentences where “someone was originally doing something and something happened partway through,” 「〜ている途中で」 and 「-던 중에」 are quite close in meaning.

◆ Similar grammar: 「〜ていたところ」

Japanese 「〜ていたところ」 can also appear in situations similar to Korean 「-던 중에」, especially when looking back afterward and explaining what someone was doing at that time. 「〜ている途中で」 makes the sense of “being partway through and still in progress” more explicit. 「〜ていたところ」 is more like shifting the viewpoint back to a particular moment in the past, saying that someone was in the middle of an action or situation at that time, and then stating what happened next. This past-oriented perspective resembles Korean 「-던」 in some ways, but Japanese 「〜ていたところ」 has its own grammatical behavior and usage, so not every instance of 「-던 중에」 can be directly replaced by this form.

• Example: 資料を確認していたところ、ミスが見つかりました。
  Kana: しりょうを かくにんしていた ところ、ミスが みつかりました。
  Translation: I was checking the materials at the time, and an error was found.
  In Korean, this can be expressed as 「자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요」. Rather than emphasizing that the speaker was “partway through checking,” this sentence sounds more like an explanation after the fact of the circumstances in which the error was found, making it close to the retrospective use of 「-던 중에」.
• Example: いろいろ調べていたところ、必要な資料が見つかりました。
  Kana: いろいろ しらべていた ところ、ひつような しりょうが みつかりました。
  Translation: While researching various things, I found the materials I needed.
  In Korean, this can be expressed as 「여러 가지를 찾아보던 중에 필요한 자료를 찾았어요」. Both are well suited to saying that “I was already looking into things, and during that process I found what I needed,” rather than simply stating the chronological order of two events.
• Example: 原因を調べていたところ、新しい問題が見つかりました。
  Kana: げんいんを しらべていた ところ、あたらしい もんだいが みつかりました。
  Translation: While I was investigating the cause, another problem was discovered.
  In Korean, this can be expressed as 「원인을 조사하던 중에 새로운 문제를 발견했어요」. Japanese places the viewpoint on the situation of “investigating at the time” and then introduces the new problem that was found. Korean 「-던 중에」 can likewise look back and explain the process in which something happened.

◆ Difference from 「-던 중에」:

The clearest overlap between Korean 「-던 중에」 and Japanese 「〜ている途中で」 is that both can say that an action has not yet finished and another event occurs while it is in progress. For example, 「방을 정리하던 중에 반지를 찾았어요」 can be compared with 「部屋を片づけている途中で、指輪を見つけました」. In sentences like these, the first action is still underway in both languages, so directly comparing the two usually causes no major problem.

However, Korean 「-던」 itself shifts the time reference back into the past, so 「-던 중에」 is also often used to explain afterward “what I was doing at the time.” When Japanese needs to make this retrospective perspective more explicit, 「〜ていたところ」 can sometimes be closer. For example, 「자료를 확인하던 중에 오류를 발견했어요」 can be expressed not only as 「資料を確認している途中で、ミスを見つけました」 but, depending on how the situation is narrated, also as 「資料を確認していたところ、ミスが見つかりました」. The first more explicitly says “I found an error partway through checking the materials,” while the second sounds more like an explanation afterward: “I was checking the materials at the time, and an error was found.”

In addition, Japanese does not necessarily force 「〜ている途中で」 with motion verbs. For example, Korean 「호텔로 돌아가던 중에 비가 왔어요」 is naturally expressed in Japanese as 「ホテルに戻る途中で、雨が降ってきました」 rather than always requiring 「戻っている途中で」. Therefore, the correspondence 「-던 중에＝〜ている途中で」 is useful for understanding the shared concept of “being in the middle of an action,” but actual translation still needs to be adjusted according to the Japanese verb and the sentence as a whole. If the sentence focuses more on looking back and explaining what someone was doing at the time, 「〜ていたところ」 may also be more appropriate than 「〜ている途中で」.

There is no need to memorize Korean 「-던 중에」 as the past version of 「-는 중에」, because 「-는 중에」 itself can already be used in sentences describing past events. The difference lies in how the situation is presented. 「-는 중에」 simply explains what state or action was in progress when something happened, while 「-던 중에」 is more like bringing the still-ongoing action at that past moment into the story when talking about the event from the present.

As for 「-다가」, it tends to place more attention on what happened after someone was partway through doing something. Another event may suddenly appear, or the action may be interrupted or change direction, so the sentence has a stronger sense of progression than with 「-던 중에」. When you encounter sentences in which all three could be translated into Chinese as “正在……時,” there is no need to first decide which Chinese wording to use. Instead, look at whether the first action is merely explaining what someone was doing at the time, or whether what happens afterward moves the sentence into another situation. That usually makes it easier to choose the appropriate form.

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