in the middle of; right while

最中に emphasizes that something happened right in the middle of an ongoing action. Attach it to a ている verb with の, or a noun with の. Often the interruption is inconvenient or unexpected.

Examples

• 食事しょくじの最中さいちゅうに、電話でんわがかかってきた。

  Shokuji no saichuu ni, denwa ga kakatte kita.

  Right in the middle of the meal, the phone rang.

• 会議かいぎの最中さいちゅうに、地震じしんが起おきた。

  Kaigi no saichuu ni, jishin ga okita.

  In the middle of the meeting, an earthquake struck.

Vocabulary in these examples

• 食事 meal
• 電話 telephone
• かかる to take (time or money)
• 会議 meeting, conference
• 地震 earthquake
• 起きる to get up; to wake up

Related patterns · Time and sequence

• 〜際に on the occasion of; when
• 〜に先立って prior to; in advance of
• 〜て以来 ever since
• 〜次第 as soon as
• 〜たとたんに the moment that; just as