When and while

Question

in past tenses there is a controversial discussion on when while.

I would like to learn something on past tenses concerning when/while.

I wonder Is there a vital grammar rule on these past tense combinations ?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Seloc@nthere is a controversial discussion on when while

Can you tell us more about this controversial discussion? Where did you read it? Can you give a reference? What were the main points? Which aspect of the discussion do you have a question about?

I'm not aware that there is anything particularly controversial about when and while, no matter which tense you use with them.

while generally introduces a clause that shows some on-going activity; when generally introduces a clause that shows an event. For that reason, while is quite often seen before a progressive tense, though the progressive is not necessarily required.

CJ

Seloc@n · Answer

we learnt that when is used for the action verbs and while is for continuous verbs.

but sometimes we can see the continuous tenses with when in subordinate clause.

When and while

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