～ながら (nagara) – Doing Two Things at Once in Japanese

Ever watched Netflix while eating dinner? Or studied Japanese while listening to music? That’s exactly what ～ながらlets you express in Japanese!

In this guide, you’ll learn:

What ～ながらmeans
How to form it (it's easier than it looks!)
A quick note on multitasking
Practice examples to try yourself

Let’s multitask our way into this grammar point 👇

What Does ～ながらMean?

「～ながら」means “while doing…” or “as I do…” — used when two actions are happening at the same time.

Walking while talking
Listening to music while working
Cooking while watching YouTube

It’s used when the subject is the same for both actions.

How to Use ～ながら

Here’s how to form it:

➡ Take the ます-form of a verb, dropます, and add ながら.

Examples:

たべます→たべながら(tabenagara) – while eating
ききます→ききながら(kikinagara) – while listening
あるきます→あるきながら(arukinagara) – while walking
はなします→はなしながら(hanashinagara) – while talking

Put your “main” or “more important” action after ～ながら.

Examples

🧃テレビを見ながら、ごはんを食べます。 I eat while watching TV.

📱スマホをさわりながら、歩かないでください。 Please don’t walk while looking at your phone. ← Common sign in Japan!

🎧音楽を聴きながら、勉強します。 I study while listening to music.

Multitasking withながら作業

In Japanese, the phrase ながら作業(nagara sagyō) refers to multitasking—usually doing something like listening to music or watching TV while working or studying.

You’ll often hear:

ながら作業できないタイプです。 (I’m the type who can’t multitask.)
ながら作業のほうがはかどる！ (I get more done when multitasking!)
ながら作業はやめなさい！ (Stop multitasking!) - probably from a parent to a distracted child...

Sometimes it's used with a tone of "you did it while multitasking so the result probably isn't great 🙄" but well, we're all busy here.