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Diamondrg Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

as - while

0Hi,02br
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001. I 01font00went shopping02font00 01font00as / while02font00 Linda 01font00cleaned 02font00the house.02br
02br
002. I 01font00was shopping02font00 01font00as / while02font00 Linda 01font00was cleaning02font00 the house.02br
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00Is there any difference between the two? Thanks.0-
  

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8 Answers
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0I'd like to know this answer. 050010id1
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Diamondrg12cite10Hi,12br
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101. I 11font10went shopping12font10 11font10as / while12font10 Linda 11font10cleaned 12font10the house.12br
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102. I 11
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0 01i00As02i00 is recommended in Swan at the beginning of sentences, and less important (??) information.02br
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00 Also, Feebs has a point. Thus, 01i00while.02i0-
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0Thanks both of you! But Diamondrg's and my point is whether you use progressive or simple past.02br
00Could you teach us again?050010id1
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0 01i00was cleaning 02i02br
00 shows clearly a duration in the background process/activity0-
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0Is whether you use the sentence type (1) or (2) optional?050010id1
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Teleostomi12cite10Is whether you use the sentence type (1) or (2) optional?15012br
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12blockquote
10"I went shopping" implies that the person left the house to go shopping.02br
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00"I was shopping" indicates that the person was already at the shops.010id1
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You have three variables in your examples: was shopping/went shopping; as/while; cleaned/was cleaning. This makes precise analysis difficult. If you keep two variables the same while making substitutions it makes life easier.

Sentences 1) both express parallel action but, as Swann suggests, "while" gives equal emphasis to the two actions whereas "as" gives less emphasis to the clause
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