Is the word 'while' here a conjunction?

Question

He felt asleep while reading a newspaper.
He felt asleep while he was reading a newspaper.

I have no problem with the second sentence as the conjunction 'while' is used to connect two clauses.
In the first sentence, 'reading a newspaper' is not a clause. Do we use a conjunction to connect a clause and a phrase? I find this confusing.

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

HongkieIn the first sentence, 'reading a newspaper' is not a clause.

Yes, it is: it is a non-finite clause.

Anon f8r · Answer

Thank you, Mister Micawber.

In that case , is the following sentence correct?
Walking along the seaside, he heard a loud noise.
Do I have to add a conjunction there?

Mister Micawber · Answer

Hongkie is the following sentence correct?Walking along the seaside, he heard a loud noise.

Yes, indeed.

HongkieDo I have to add a conjunction there?

Not at all.

Anon f8r · Answer

Does it mean that it is not a must to use a conjunction to link a non-finite clause with a finite clause  while it is a must to use a conjunction to link two finite cluases together in a sentence?

Jaguartree · Answer

He fell asleep whilst reading a newspaper.

Grammarfreak · Answer

HongkieDoes it mean that it is not a must to use a conjunction to link a non-finite clause with a finite clause while it is a must to use a conjunction to link two finite cluases together in a sentence?

This is an excellent link on the topic.The contents clearly explained the conjunctional relationship between transitive and intransitive
construction, as well as the transitive active and passive aspects.

http://writerschoices.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/webpartphr.pdf

CHAPTER 15 : PARTICIPLE PHRASES

SYNTAX

If you are telling a friend that you listen to jazz and relax in the evenings, you might say,
“While I relax in the evenings, I listen to jazz.” You might even tighten it somewhat as
we have already seen and say, “While relaxing in the evenings, I listen to jazz.” Now we
will see that there is way to make the clause even tighter, a way which will reduce that
clause to a phrase: Relaxing in the evenings, I listen to jazz.
Notice that what we have done here is to drop the subject and the subordinating
conjunction and to add an -ing to the base verb form. When we add the -ing to the
verb, the verb can no longer be the predicate in the sentence. It can be combined with
the verb be to make a progressive tense, but it cannot stand alone as the predicate of
the sentence. A predicate contains the ability to tell the time of an action, and even
though the verb + -ing is called a present participle, it does not indicate present time or
any other time. What a present participle does is to say that the predicate that it is
made from was an intransitive verb or a transitive verb in active voice.

Is the word 'while' here a conjunction?

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