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本を読む間に、彼女は泣き出しました。

"While she was reading the book, she burst into tears."

I was only taught the nagara structure, whose use is very limited. Since I needed a structure to express something that happens while another action is being performed, I had to use something else. I thought about aida ni. Is my sentence correct?

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    Um... could you give an intended English translation of your sentence? May 6, 2017 at 14:10
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    泣き出す and 間に don't match very well ("while she was reading, she started crying") since reading is a continuous action while to start crying is punctual. May 6, 2017 at 14:21
  • Related? japanese.stackexchange.com/q/15162/9831
    – chocolate
    May 6, 2017 at 15:07
  • I admit the expression "本を読んでいるあいだに、彼女は泣きだしました" written in Chocolate's answer is the best.
    – user20624
    May 6, 2017 at 23:54

2 Answers 2

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本の句を読む間に、彼女は泣き出しました。
I needed a structure to express something that happens while another action is being performed

In that case, I think you could say:

本を読んでいるあいだに、彼女は泣きだしました。
"While (she was / I was / someone was) reading a book, she started crying."


Examples:

ているあいだに、蚊に刺された。
While I was sleeping, I was bitten by a mosquito.

シャワーを浴びているあいだに、電話がかかってきました。
While I was taking a shower, the phone rang.

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1) 本の句を読む間に、彼女は泣き出しました。

Apart from your point of concern, we don't say 本の句を読む, but say 本を読む.

1)'本を読む間に、彼女は泣きだしました。
2) 本を読みながら、彼女は泣きだしました。
3) 本を読むにつれ、彼女は泣きだしました。
4) 本を読み進{すす}めるうちに、彼女は泣きだしました。
5) 本を読むにつれいつしか、彼女は泣きだしました。
6) 本を読み進{すす}めるうちにいつしか、彼女は泣きだしました。

The sentence 2) to 6) are acceptable, but the sentence 1)' is ...
And, the sentence 5), 6) are better than 3) and 4), and 3) and 4) are better than 2) because of Ben Steffan's comment.

Last but not least, the following expression in Chocolate's answer is the best.

7) 本を読んでいるあいだに、彼女は泣きだしました。

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