Aida & Uchi: What's the difference?

[WalterWills]

I recently read up on using あいだ and あいだに in sentences.

For example,

私はフランスにいる間に病気になりました。

However, when I wrote a diary on Mixi yesterday I somehow completely forgot about "あいだ" and used "うち" for everything instead.

But I was wondering whether or not there are any important differences between the two terms.

In these two sentences, I originally intended to use "あいだ" instead of "うち", but please suggest which you would choose and why. Also, would you use the Kanji for both "あいだ" and "うち" or is it not important?

私はバスの中にいるうちに大雨が降り出しました。

しかし、そんなにラッキーじゃない私は家に歩いているうちに大雨がまた降り出しました。


Thanks/どうもありがとうございました

[Psy]

My understanding of the difference between 間に (usually written with kanji) and うちに (usually without), is that 間に expresses the continuation of time whereas うちに expresses the continuation of circumstances. For example 若いうちに (while you are [still] young), indicates the condition of your being young, whereas 夏休みの間に (when I was on vacation) expresses the duration. Note that 夏休みの間 expresses a general timeline and 夏休みの間に expresses a specific point. They both express continuation of an action/circumstance so there is some overlap, and as for your sentences I couldn't tell you which is more appropriate. If I took a shot in the dark I would say that うちに there carries the nuance that "unlucky you, it started raining while you were walking home [but let up once I got inside]," because you're making a point to say that it started with the condition of your walking rather than simply the time you were walking.

I could be wrong, though. Subtleties can be kind of difficult when you're studying alone. One thing I am certain about is that with the negative v～ないうちに means the same thing as v～る前に. (before *action* happens).

[Javizy]

間(に) has to be used about some sort of measurable period of time, e.g. while you're eating, while you were in Japan, while it was raining, etc. So, it cannot replace うちに in sentences like "冷たいうちにビールを飲んでね". If you think of 間(に) more literally as 'during the time when', this distinction becomes more apparent; "drink the beer during the time when it isn't cold" doesn't make a lot of sense.

For way clearer and more detailed explanations, you should really check out A Dictionary of Basic/Intermediate Japanese Grammar. Comparisons of grammar points such as these are priceless - I really don't know how people learn Japanese without them.

[WalterWills]

Thanks for the help guys.

I recently asked some Japanese people to correct the sentences, and they said:

私はバスの中にいるうちに大雨が降り出しました。

...is fine (apart from は > が)
But...

しかし、そんなにラッキーじゃない私は家に歩いているうちに大雨がまた降り出しました。

should be:　。。。家に（まで）歩いている間に。。。


..which complies with what you said about circumstances and time I think.