While

Question

Need help with this?1 I listen to music while I was walking/while I walked. I listened to 2 songs in the time it took me to get home/It took me the time it takes for to songs to finish to get home.2 He barked while he was walking/while he walked.3 He walked while he barked/while he was barking.one thing I'm not sure of.1 A year ago, her mother cared what her kid did, now she does care anymore what she does.How would you say it?Thanks

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I am not a native speaker but I would say them like

1. I listen(ed) to the music while I walk(ed).

2. I listened to 2 songs on my way home.

3. He barked while he walked.

4. Up until a year ago her mother still cared for her kid's behaviour, now she doesn't care anymore.

Alc24 · Answer

anyone else please ?
thanks

Anonymous · Answer

alc24
3 He walked while he barked/while he was barking.

one thing I'm not sure of.

Having read some of your posted sentences, instead of just editing your questions, I'd like to offer a few observations and comments .

You seem to be eager to learn but you may want to focus on the meanings your intent to express in the sentences, and the quality of the questions (sentences) rather than the quantity. When you write your sentences (usually multiple), take the time to analize the tense and logic consistency with the best effort beofe posting them. For instance:

1 I listen to music while I was walking/while I walked. There is Tense agreement problem.

I listened to 2 songs in the time it took me to get home/It took me the time it takes for to songs to finish to get home.

No, This is a funny way of measuring time but let's say is acceptable. Is this sentence focused on "getting home"? , "the time it took to get home"? or the 2 songs you were listening to? If I have to guess, I would say:

It took the time of 2 songs for me to get home.

2 He barked while he was walking/while he walked. This is a very insane picture!

Is "he" a dog?

A year ago, her (who is her here?) mother cared (very much about) what her kid did (who is her here? Is that the same her?) ,(full stop/ period here) Now she does (not?) care anymore. ~~what she does.~~

Hope this reply will help you to improve down the line...

Alc24 · Answer

Ok Thank you, I'll try

Just one thing:

You said it was
"The dog barked while it walked"

wouldn't it be

"The dog walked while it barked/while it was barking"

Thank you

Anonymous · Answer

This is what your wrote: He barked while he was walking/while he walked.

Problems: Only dogs bark. "He" is not the the pronoun for a dog which is usually walked by human.

To make sense of the sentence, you may say: "The dog was barking the whole time while being taken for a walk by its master".

alc24

"The dog barked while it walked"

wouldn't it be

"The dog walked while it barked/while it was barking"

These two sentences basically are grammatically ok. However, each paints a slightly different puzzling picture.

What If I say "John sleeps while he sings", or "John sings while he sleeps"(although the latter may actually happen). what kind of mental message do you receive?

That's the kind of odd tone I observed in your questions.

When you use "while" in you context, you imply something taking place as another event happening along the way. i.e. My house was broken into while I was out for grocery.

Alc24 · Answer

In your example "My house was broken into while I was out for grocery."
can you say the opposite
"I was out for grocery while my house was broken into."

and can the first clause be the past simple and the while clause be the continuous ex

The dog barked while it WAS WALKING as opposed to The dog barked while it walked.

Thank you

Anonymous · Answer

You can say it but it doesn't mean it's correct or logical.

If you insist on inverting the order of the structure, then you have to say "

"I was out for grocery when my house was broken into." -passive, emphasizing your house being broken into.

Or,

"I was out for grocery when someone broke into my house".

We can manipulate the sentence structure, the words and the tone to how we want to express our thoughts. When any of the above element shifts, the meaning shift with it. That's the whole point of my reply.

Alc24 · Answer

I understand, one thing tho, can you use the past simple with the continuous like this.
"The dog barked while it was walking" and not "while it walked"

I saw in a grammar book the the WHILE clause could be the continuous even if the first clause is the past simple"

and for

TIME IT TAKES??

you'd say : it took me the time it takes to smoke a cigarette to get home and not "it takes me the time of a cigarette to get home" RIGHT?
so why wouldn't it be
"It took me the time it takes me to listen to 2 songs to get home"

What about
"I got home in the time it takes me to listen to 2 songs"

Thank you

Anonymous · Answer

?

alc24
"The dog barked while it was walking" and not "while it walked"

[/quote

I reiterate. words paint pictures and this picture raises some questions. Is the dog walking by itself?

If I say "John often whistled his favorite tunes while making delivery on his bike as a warehouse clerk". This is a clear picture.
alc24
"I got home in the time it takes me to listen to 2 songs"

This sounds strange. a typical song is about 3-4 minutes. I don't think too many people will measure time with number of songs. Unless you have more contact to support this sentence.

Does this make sense to you; If I say: "My conmmute to work takes as long as 20 songs"?

Or " Mary finished her house cleaning in less time it took for her to listen to 5 songs"?

I have headache reading these two sentence myself!
alc24
you'd say : it took me the time it takes to smoke a cigarette to get home and not "it takes me the time of a cigarette to get home" RIGHT?

It takes me an hour to come home from work on a typical Friday. With reoccurring routines, use "bare infinitve"

It took me an hour to get home yesterday! Traffic was a nightmare! With past marker (yesterday), use past tense.

While

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