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Lcchang Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

When vs. While

0Dear teachers,02br
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00Please adivise me on the use of "01font00when02font00" and "01font00while02font00". Thanks.02br
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00Are the following sentences correct? 02br
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01font00I was taking a bath when the earthquake happened.02font02br
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01font00I took a bath while the earthquake was happening.02font02br
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01font00I cut my face while I was shaving.02font02br
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01font00I was shaving when I cut my face.02font02br
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00Furthermore, when do we only put the simple past tense on both the main clause and the subordinate clause (the one with the conjunction in front of it) in a long sentence? For example, does "I always go to see a doctor when I am under the weather." sound OK to you? Can I use "while" to replace "when" in this sentence?02br
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00Lastly, can we use a past continuous tense on both the main and subordinate clause with the word "while" as the conjunction? For example, "The guy was renovating my room while I was traveling in Europe".02br
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00As far as I know, to use "when" means two events come in one after another , whereas "while" usually indicates two events come at the same time. Correct?02br
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00Whew...what else can I think of.....02br
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00Lcchang0-
  

Top answer

00 00In 0102 00 time expressed in a given context dictates what tenses to use. Within the tenses, the events that took place require proper conjunctions and adverbs to depict a clear picture. 00 00As for your questions, I hope my explanation didn’t confuse you.

— Goodman

  • 00 00In 0102 00 time expressed in a given context dictates what tenses to use.
  • Within the tenses, the events that took place require proper conjunctions and adverbs to depict a clear picture.
  • 00 00As for your questions, I hope my explanation didn’t confuse you.
  • 05002font 02br 02br 00I was taking a bath when the earthquake happened.
  • 00 00This means at some point during the bath, the earthquake occurred.
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3 Answers
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1font00That’s why 010200 is harder for Asian learners because of the trickiness of tenses.00 00In 010200 time expressed in a given context dictates what tenses to use. Within the tenses, the events that took place require proper conjunctions and adverbs to depict a clear picture. 00 00As f
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0Hi,02br
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00Are the following sentences correct? 02br
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01font00I was taking a bath when the earthquake happened.01font00 OK02font02font02br
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01font00I took a bath while the earthquake was happening.01font
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0 We have made a lot of discussion on the question similar to yours. Please look at them.02br
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