How do these sentences sound?

Question

I whould like to know whether these sentences below are ok or not.

1) We had not been waiting long when the moon appeared.
2) When the moon appeared, we had not been waiting long.
3) When we had not been waiting long, the moon appeared

I think 1) is the most natural sentence, but the others are also acceptable and they have the same meaning as 1)??

Thank you :-)

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

1 and 2 are OK, with 1 the usual; 3 is not possible.

H M · Answer

Thanks a lot for your reply!
I got it :-)
I think the sentence#1 above is one that is based on some sentence like "It is not long before/when we come back." and a bit modified. So, #1 sounds natural and #2 is acceptable but #3 is not possible.
Is my understanding correct??

Thank you.

Mister Micawber · Answer

H M think the sentence#1 above is one that is based on some sentence

I don't think that is the right way to view it—one construction is not usually 'based on' another construction—but

H M, #1 sounds natural and #2 is acceptable but #3 is not possible.Is my understanding correct??

Yes.

H M · Answer

Thanks a lot for your reply! :-)
I got it.

But, then why this sentence "3) When we had not been waiting long, the moon appeared" is impossible...?
Is it because the main part of the sentence should be 'the moon appeared' and at that time, we had not been waiting long...
I feel like 3) is not correct in my sence, but can't explain why since I think the sentence below is ok...

# When I was waiting in a park, {my friends came to me. / the moon appeard. }

Thank you.

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