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Cavid Hummatov Posted 10 years ago
Grammar

as(because/while)

I stumbled upon a sentence containing "as" and having a problem with distinguishing whether it means "because" or "while" in the context. here it is :

"The critically endangered Sumatran orangutan has seen 50% decline in its population over the last 8 years as farmers clear more and more forests for agriculture.
  

Top answer

I read it as 'while' there, but as you have found, the meanings can often be blurred.

— Mister Micawber

  • I read it as 'while' there, but as you have found, the meanings can often be blurred.
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5 Answers
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I read it as 'while' there, but as you have found, the meanings can often be blurred.
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Thank you for the quick reply, i'd like to know on what basis are you saying that here as refers to while, cause as i know while is used to indicate that something happens during the time when something else is taking place, in another word there should be two ong
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Cavid Hummatovi'd like to know on what basis are you saying that here as refers to while,
The basis is understanding of the context, that is all. Reading, like writing, is a skill. The verb forms do not necessarily determine the meaning of the conjunction.
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i mean as a native speaker how did you conclude that? what grammatical clues tell you that "while" is more appropriate reagarding the context and why "because" isn't . cause as a learner both seem pretty close to me and this is the reason why im asking .
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Cavid Hummatovi mean as a native speaker how did you conclude that? what grammatical clues tell you that "while" is more appropriate reagarding the context and why "because" isn't
As I just tried to explain, native speakers don't use grammatical clues. Half the native speakers don't even know grammar. We use the context and our knowledge of the world to unde
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