How do we decide if 中 is ちゅう or じゅう?

Question

How do we decide if 中 is ちゅう or じゅう ?

For example, in this sentence １０人中３人はビデオを持っている which pronunciation should we use?

What about this: そのピアニストの演奏中、彼らは一心に耳を傾けた。

中 is read as ちゅう in both examples. I cannot explain why right now. — Tsuyoshi Ito, Aug 22 '11 at 18:38

score 22 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 21 '18 at 03:03

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じゅう (or, rarely: ぢゅう) is used for expressions covering a length of time (resp. area) from start to finish, in its entirety. I.e. "through", "all of":

一年中【いちねんじゅう】 all year

一日中【いちにちじゅう】 all day

世界中【せかいじゅう】 all over the world

ちゅう is for pointing a particular time (resp. specific location) out of an interval (resp. general area). I.e. "out of", "during":

午前中【ごぜんちゅう】 [at some point] during morning

会議中【かいぎちゅう】 in a meeting [e.g. "he is in a meeting at the moment"]

Note that in some cases, both can be used and the only way to tell would be from context (e.g. an expression followed by に is more likely to be ちゅう) or in speech:

来月中【らいげつじゅう】 all of next month

来月中【らいげつちゅう】 [some time] next month

edited Oct 21 '18 at 03:03

Chocolate

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answered Aug 22 '11 at 05:37

Dave

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cool, btw just to confirm, is the 中 in the 2 sentences (in the question) both ちゅう and not じゅう ? – Pacerier Aug 22 '11 at 10:21
Hmn, I *would* have said じゅう, since there's an idea of continuity (they listened carefully throughout the whole thing, not just at a specific point in time), but Google seems to think otherwise. – Dave Aug 22 '11 at 10:29
For some reason, verbal noun is always with ちゅう. The usages are (1) shows state: `会議中 = is in a meeting` (2) as adverb, it means "throughout the course of 〜": `会議中眠っていた = Slept throughout the meeting` (3) used with に, it points a moment. `会議中に… = sometime in the meeting,…`. – syockit Aug 26 '11 at 18:29

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams · Answer 2 · 2011-08-22T05:22:56.510

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"out of" is 「ちゅう」, "through" is 「じゅう」.

中ちゅう
(suf,abbr,n-suf) medium; average; middle; moderation; middle school; China; in; out of (e.g. three out of ten people); during (a certain time when one did or is doing something); (P)
中じゅう
(suf) through; throughout; in the course of; all over or throughout (e.g. a place)

EDIT:

That second example is "during", so 「ちゅう」.

edited Aug 22 '11 at 05:22

answered Aug 22 '11 at 05:15

Ignacio Vazquez-Abrams

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btw isn't it true that じゅう can also mean "in; out of (e.g. three out of ten people);" ? – Pacerier Aug 22 '11 at 05:27

score -1 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 19 '20 at 15:49

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１０人中３人はビデオを持っている

Here, 中 reading is うち

answered Sep 19 '20 at 15:49

ALOMO

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You give a different reading from the other comments/answers. Could you maybe give a bit more detail? – Earthliŋ Sep 19 '20 at 20:18

How do we decide if 中 is ちゅう or じゅう?

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