Illustration: At a low table in a Japanese living room, a person pauses while hand-sewing a cushion cover and finally looks down beside their chair. Their cat has quietly carried nearly every soft fabric offcut into an open basket and is now curled in an elaborate nest.

JLPT N3adverbLevel estimated by Bebop

いつの間まにか

itsunomanika

before one knows it

Example sentences

  1. いつの間まにかボブは外そとへ出でていた。

    Bob went out before I knew it.

    Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · Source

  2. いつの間まにか小鳥ことりたちは見みえなくなった。

    Before I knew it, I couldn’t see the birds.

    Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · Source

  3. 私わたしはいつの間まにかぐっすり眠ねむっていた。

    I fell sound asleep before I knew it.

    Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · Source

Kanji in 間

  • 間space; intervalOnカン・ケンKunあいだ・ま・あい

A word like this on every new tab

The Bebop Chrome extension shows one illustrated Japanese word each time you open a new tab in Chrome, with its reading, meaning, kanji and three example sentences. Choose any mix of levels from N5 to beyond N1. It’s free, with no account.

The Bebop new tab showing 音楽, music, over an illustration of a family playing music at home, with three example sentences
Add to Chrome Free on the Chrome Web Store
For Chrome on a computer. See it on the Chrome Web Store