Although this seems to be more of an English question, it deals with Japanese usage, so I would like some help here.
We know the kanji 中; I am talking about when this is used for processes that are happening. For example 回収中、実行中、動作中... What would be a correct way to translate this into English? Sometimes I use "In" as in "In Operation", sometimes I use the "ing" as in "Collecting", etc.
Any suggestions?
Language is not a science, nor is translation. There should be no such thing as the single best translation for 「～～中{ちゅう}」.
Whatever sounds best for the context in the target language would be the best.
in, within, during, while, in the middle of, in the course of, under (as in "under investigation" = 「調査中{ちょうさちゅう}」), etc.
Thus, no matter what word comes before the 「中」 in the original Japanese, there should usually be one or two word/phrase choices that sound natural in English.
