haha ga bangohan o tsukutte iru aida, watashi wa daidokoro de araimono o shimasu.

While my mother is making dinner, I do the dishes in the kitchen.

Breakdown of haha ga bangohan o tsukutte iru aida, watashi wa daidokoro de araimono o shimasu.

• は: topic particle
• 私わたし: I
• を: direct object particle
• が: subject particle

Questions & Answers about haha ga bangohan o tsukutte iru aida, watashi wa daidokoro de araimono o shimasu.

Why is it 母が but 私は?

This is a very common question.

• が in 母が marks the subject of the clause 晩ご飯を作っている.
  • It tells us who is making dinner.
• は in 私は marks the topic of the main clause.
  • It tells us that the sentence is now talking about what I do.

So the sentence has two parts:

• 母が晩ご飯を作っているあいだ = while my mother is making dinner
• 私は台所で洗い物をします = as for me, I do the dishes in the kitchen

Using が for 母 and は for 私 is very natural here because the sentence contrasts two people’s actions:

• Mother is making dinner
• I am doing the dishes

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What does 作っている mean here?

作っている is the ている form of 作る.

• 作る = to make
• 作っている = is making / making

In this sentence, it describes an action that is in progress:

• 母が晩ご飯を作っている = my mother is making dinner

So here, ている works like the English progressive is making.

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Why is あいだ after 作っている?