hoeui junge hwamyeoni gapjagi kkeojyeosseo.

The screen suddenly turned off during the meeting.

Breakdown of hoeui junge hwamyeoni gapjagi kkeojyeosseo.

• ~이: subject particle
• 화면: screen
• 회의: meeting
• 중에: during

Questions & Answers about hoeui junge hwamyeoni gapjagi kkeojyeosseo.

What does the element in 회의 중에 mean, and how is it different from 동안?

중(에) means “in the middle of, while (an activity is ongoing).” It highlights that a single event occurred during an ongoing activity. 동안 refers to the span/length of time (“for/during the duration of”). Here, 회의 중에 is natural because one sudden event (the screen going off) happened during the meeting. 회의하는 동안 can sound like the situation continued for the whole meeting, which isn’t intended.

Why is there 에 after 중? Can I just say 회의 중?

중 is a bound noun (“middle”). With 에, it becomes an adverbial time phrase “during.” 회의 중에 = “during the meeting.” Without 에, 회의 중 is a noun phrase (“in a meeting / in the middle of a meeting”) and works in statements like 지금 회의 중입니다. In this sentence (modifying when something happened), 중에 is preferred.

Can I say 회의하는 중에, 회의할 때, or 회의 도중에 instead? What’s the nuance?

All are fine, with small differences:

• 회의하는 중에: explicitly “while (we were) holding a meeting.”
• 회의할 때: “when we were in a meeting”; broader and a bit more casual.
• 회의 도중에: very close to 중에, a touch more formal/literary.