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Nkspb Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
While + Present Simple talking about an action in progress
Hello everybody!
Could you help me, please? I noticed cases of the usage of while with present simple tenses when logically it should have been continuous tenses because the action was on-going at the moment of speaking.
For instance, today I heard such a phrase:
"Can you not disturb us while we talk?"
Shouldn't it be "while we're talking"?
Another example:
"Please wait while the program is installed"
Shouldn't it be "is being installed"?
Thanks!
Could you help me, please? I noticed cases of the usage of while with present simple tenses when logically it should have been continuous tenses because the action was on-going at the moment of speaking.
For instance, today I heard such a phrase:
"Can you not disturb us while we talk?"
Shouldn't it be "while we're talking"?
Another example:
"Please wait while the program is installed"
Shouldn't it be "is being installed"?
Thanks!
Top answer
I can accept both of those, but I would recommend the continuous tense.
- I can accept both of those, but I would recommend the continuous tense.
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2 Answers
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"while" can force a continuous reading on a simple tense. This happens more often in the past, but it's not unknown in the present.
CJ
CJ
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