Mandarin multitasking with "yibian... yibian..."

It's not uncommon to do be doing more than one active task at once. In fact, this should be something you do often if you want to improve your Chinese, simply try to listen to Chinese audio while doing other things!

That's not what we're going to talk about in this article, though. Instead, we're going to look at how to express two simultaneous activities or tasks with the pattern 一边... 一边.... (yìbiān... yìbiān...). If you're not sure why 一 here is pronounced with a fourth tone, you should read this article. Note that this pattern can sometimes be shortened to just 边... 边..., and that 一边 (yìbiān) can be used alone and means "one side". Below, we're going to look at the most common form 一边... 一边.... (yìbiān... yìbiān...).

Examples of how to use 一边... 一边.... (yìbiān... yìbiān...) to express simultaneous activities

Let's look at a few examples of how to use 一边... 一边.... (yìbiān... yìbiān...) to express simultaneous activities, in this case following-up on the idea I mentioned in the first paragraph about listening to as much Chinese as you can:

    一边跑步，一边听中文广播
    yìbiān pǎobù, yìbiān tīng Zhōngwén guǎngbō
    Listening to a Chinese broadcast while running.
    一边做饭，一边听中文有声书
    yìbiān zuòfàn, yìbiān tīng Zhōngwén yǒushēngshū
    Listening to a Chinese audio book while cooking.
    一边刷碗，一边听中文播客
    yìbiān shuā wǎn, yìbiān tīng Zhōngwén bōkè
    Listening to a Chinese podcast while washing up the dishes.

Seriously, though, you can use this pattern to express any active tasks that you're doing. Note that both tasks have to be simultaneous and ongoing activities, so even though "while" is the most common translation of 一边... 一边.... (yìbiān... yìbiān...), you can't used it to say that something happened while something else went on. Check these examples and I think you will see how i


    他喜欢一边洗澡，一边唱歌
    tā xǐhuan yìbiān xǐzǎo, yìbiān chànggē
    He likes singing while showering (or just singing in the shower).
    我不能一边工作，一边听音乐
    wǒ bùnéng yìbiān gōngzuò， yìbiān tīng yīnyuè
    I can't listen to music while working.
    她一边走，一边思考一个很难的问题
    tā yìbiān zǒu le, yìbiān sīkǎo yí gè hěn nán de wèntí
    She walked while thinking about a very difficult problem.
    他一边玩手机，一边他女朋友讲话
    tā yìbiān wán shǒujī, yìbiān tā nǚpéngyou jiǎnghuà
    He played with his mobile phone while listening to his girlfriend talk.
    一边走一边掉眼泪
    yìbiān zǒu yìbiān diào yǎnlèi
    Walking while shedding tears (this is a line from Matzka's 情人的眼泪)
    一边享受，一边流
    yìbiān xiǎngshòu, yìbiān lèi liú
    Enjoying something while shedding tears (this is a line from Eason Chan's "Ten Years")

When not to use 一边... 一边.... (yìbiān... yìbiān...)

If you want to express that something happens while something else is going on, you can used 的时候 instead. Like so:

她昨天看电视的时候，门铃响了
tā zuótiān kàn diànshì de shíhou, ménlíng xiǎng le
While she was watching television yesterday, the door bell rang.