What is the purpose of 中 in ダウンロード中?


When I am downloading something, this comes up. I guess it would mean that the
download is in progress or something but it seems a little unexpected to have
that there. Is it something that you'd say out loud for something else that is
progressing or would it be exclusively for digital progressions?




The kanji 中 on the end as a kind of suffix generally has two different
meanings, depending on context and how it's read.

  * **When read as ちゅう:** _"in the middle of doing; in the state of being"_ , as in l'électeur's examples.
  * **When read as じゅう:** _"all over, throughout; sometime during"_ , as in 体{からだ}中{じゅう} _"all over the body, all throughout the body"_ or 今日{きょう}中{じゅう} _"sometime during today"_.

