Timeline for two parallel actions?

Question

Timeline for "He was studying." is:

past.............present moment............future
<---***--------X--------------------->

And timeline for "I was playing baseball." is:

past.............present moment.............future
<---***--------X--------------------->

But how will we draw the timeline if both actions were happening at the same time. For example, "He was studying while I was playing baseball."

Please answer my question and help me drawing the timeline for the sentence given above. Thanks.

Just the truth · Accepted Answer

Hi Meg,

What does the X at "present moment" represent?

How about this?

past.............present moment.............future
<---***----------------------------->
<---***------------------------------>

Casi · Answer

Since the events 'was studying' and 'was playing' took place in the past, the ***'s should be placed under the term "past", like this,

past..........present moment............future
<***-------------X--------------------------> *** = 'I was studying'

As for the two events ocurring at the same time, try:

past..........present moment............future
<***-------------X--------------------------> *** = 'I was playing baseball'
yyyyy = 'He was studying'

Meg2589 · Answer

Is there any other way to show both the actions on one timeline?

I tried to search the internet for timeline chart but it's only for one action, not parallel.

X means now or present moment.
x means some action happened, *** means action took place for some time period.

Can I show it like this:

past..............present moment............future
<---***-------------X-------------------------->
l.....***..l

(if you remember we studied something like this in our physics subject - serial or parallel resistance in a circuit diagram

)
I don't know if it will work for this example or not.

Mister Micawber · Answer

They're both happening at the same time, Meg, so I see no alternative to drawing them in two parallel rows, one above the other:

(don't know it I can do this...)

'He was studying while I was playing baseball'--

unspecified past

***
***

'He is studying while I am playing baseball'--

present moment

***
***

'He will be studying while I am playing baseball'
'He will be studying, while I will be playing baseball'--

unspecified future

***
***

Casi · Answer

I love your recent diagram, and I also agree with you and the other posters. It's a tough call to make. As an alternative, you could always try something like using x for one event and y for the other event:

past.......present moment.........future
<--xy-------------X------------------------>

You could also use an equals sign (=) to show that one event (x1) shares the same timeline as the other event (x2):

past.........present moment.........future
<~~x1=x2-----------X------------------------->~~

Anonymous · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10meg258912cite10Timeline for "He was studying." is: 12br
12br
10past.............present moment............future 12br
12br
10And timeline for "I was playing baseball." is: 12br
12br
10past.............present moment.............future 12br
12br
10But how will we draw the timeline if both actions were happening at the same time. For example, "He was studying while I was playing baseball." 12br
12br
10Please answer my question and help me drawing the timeline for the sentence given above. Thanks.12blockquote

1-

Anonymous · Answer

1blockquote

01cite10meg258912cite10Timeline for "He was studying." is: 12br
12br
10past.............present moment............future 12br
12br
10And timeline for "I was playing baseball." is: 12br
12br
10past.............present moment.............future 12br
12br
10But how will we draw the timeline if both actions were happening at the same time. For example, "He was studying while I was playing baseball." 12br
12br
10Please answer my question and help me drawing the timeline for the sentence given above. Thanks.12blockquote

1-

Anonymous · Answer

Create a timeline to teach: "He was studying while I was playing baseball."

past present future
<~~x/y~~-----------X------------------------>

x = I was playing baseball

y = He was studying

Clive · Answer

I do it this way for my students.

Two activities at the same time in the past.

I was playing baseball
<----------------------------------->

He was studying
<----------------------------------->

Clive

Timeline for two parallel actions?

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