がてら
“While doing … / Taking the opportunity to …” → Used to express that one action is done as a secondary or incidental purpose while doing another main action.
N1
Meaning
“While doing … / Taking the opportunity to …” → Used to express that one action is done as a secondary or incidental purpose while doing another main action.
Formation
Verb (ます-stem) + がてら
Noun + がてら
Explanation
がてら is used when the speaker intentionally does Action B because they are already doing Action A.
Key points:
one action is main
the other is secondary / opportunistic
both are done by the same person
the actions are usually light or easy to combine
This grammar often implies:
efficiency
convenience
purposeful overlap
It is commonly used in:
everyday written Japanese
polite spoken explanations
JLPT N1 reading passages
💡 Core nuance:
“Since I’m doing X anyway, I’ll also do Y.”