Pendant que
Example: Je lis un livre pendant que tu regardes la télé.
Definition
"Pendant que" is a French conjunction used to indicate that two actions are happening at the same time. For example, in the sentence "Je lis un livre pendant que tu regardes la télé," it shows that reading a book and watching TV are simultaneous events.
Etymology
The phrase "pendant que" comes from the French verb "pendre," meaning 'to hang,' combined with the conjunction "que," meaning 'that.' Historically, it evokes the idea of one action 'hanging' or lasting during the occurrence of another. Did you know? Despite its literal roots, "pendant que" functions purely as a temporal conjunction in modern French.
Learn to use this word actively
"Pendant que" appears in the Vocaplus list "French - General - (Mixed) - set 1", containing 20 commonly used words.
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