ane ha, gyouza wo yakinagara, pura no zyunbi mo site imasita.

は marks 姉 as the topic of the sentence.

So 姉は means something like:

• As for my older sister, ...
• My older sister ...

It does not simply mean subject in the same way English does. It introduces who the sentence is about. In many contexts, 姉 without any modifier usually means my older sister.

They have different jobs in the sentence.

• 餃子を焼きながら

  • を marks 餃子 as the direct object of 焼く (to grill / fry / cook).
  • So: while grilling dumplings

• 天ぷらの準備

  • の connects two nouns.
  • 天ぷらの準備 means preparation for tempura or tempura preparation

So を marks the thing being acted on, while の links nouns together.

〜ながら means while doing ... or doing ... and at the same time ...

Here:

• 焼く = to grill / fry / cook
• 焼き = the ます-stem of 焼く
• ながら = while doing

So 餃子を焼きながら means:

• while grilling gyoza
• while she was cooking the dumplings

It shows that the action of grilling the dumplings and the action in the main clause were happening at the same time.

Because ながら attaches to the stem of the verb, not the dictionary form.

Examples:

• 焼く → 焼きながら
• 食べる → 食べながら
• 読む → 読みながら

So with 焼く, you remove く and use the stem 焼き before ながら.

も means also / too.

Without も:

• 天ぷらの準備をしていました
• was doing the preparation for tempura

With も:

• 天ぷらの準備もしていました
• was also doing the preparation for tempura

This suggests she was doing one thing, and in addition, she was doing this too. It matches the earlier action:

• grilling dumplings
• also preparing tempura

Good question. Both patterns exist:

• 準備をしていました
• 準備もしていました

Here, も is replacing を.

So:

• 天ぷらの準備をしていました = she was doing tempura preparation
• 天ぷらの準備もしていました = she was also doing tempura preparation

This is very common in Japanese: particles like は or も often replace が or を depending on the nuance.

していました is the past progressive / past ongoing form.

• しました = did
• していました = was doing / had been doing

In this sentence, していました fits because the sentence describes an ongoing situation in the past:

• she was grilling dumplings
• and was also preparing tempura

So the sentence paints a scene rather than just reporting a completed action.

Not automatically, but it often pairs naturally with an ongoing or repeated action.

In this sentence:

• 餃子を焼きながら = while grilling dumplings
• 準備もしていました = was also preparing

That combination makes it clear both actions were happening over the same period.

If the main verb were different, the nuance could change, but here the progressive form していました strongly supports the idea of simultaneous ongoing actions.

Normally, with 〜ながら, the same person does both actions.

So here, 姉 is understood to be:

• grilling the dumplings
• and also preparing the tempura

That is the natural reading.

Not necessarily. 準備 means preparation.

So 天ぷらの準備 could include things like:

• cutting ingredients
• mixing batter
• setting things out
• getting oil ready

It does not necessarily mean she was already frying the tempura. It focuses on the prep work.

The commas help readability and show pauses, but they are not essential to the grammar.

In Japanese writing, commas are often used more flexibly than in English. This sentence could also be written without them:

• 姉は餃子を焼きながら天ぷらの準備もしていました。

The meaning stays the same.

Not exactly.

• 姉（あね） usually means my older sister when speaking about your own family to others.
• お姉さん can mean older sister, but it is often used when referring politely to someone else’s older sister, or even to a young woman/girl in general.

So in this sentence, 姉 is the natural choice for my older sister.

Here are the common readings:

• 姉 = あね
• 餃子 = ぎょうざ
• 焼きながら = やきながら
• 天ぷら = てんぷら
• 準備 = じゅんび
• していました = していました

So the full sentence is read:

• あねは、ぎょうざをやきながら、てんぷらのじゅんびもしていました。