While vs When

Question

Hey Friends,Any significant usage difference between 'while' and 'when'?e.g. My teacher explains the bar chart when she is drawing it.      My teacher explains the bar chart while she is drawing it.Thanks!

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

To my ear, while goes better with the progressive tenses.

CJ

Mister Micawber · Answer

No significant differences in your case.

She explained the chart while she drew it.-- The actions were simultaneous

She explained the chart when she drew it.-- The actions were simultaneous OR the explanation followed the drawing ('when' can mean 'after' here).

She was explaining the chart while she was drawing it.-- The actions were simultaneous
She was explaining the chart when she was drawing it.-- The actions were simultaneous
She was explaining the chart while she drew it.-- The actions were simultaneous; tells us what she did when she drew it
She explained the chart while she was drawing it.-- The actions were simultaneous; tells us when she explained.

She was explaining the chart when she drew it.-- The actions were simultaneous; tells us what she did when she drew it

She explained the chart when she was drawing it.-- The actions were simultaneous-- The actions were simultaneous; tells us when she explained.

PS: Don't mind me; I'm just playing.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks CJ! While sounds better, but is the sentence grammatical with "when" in it?

Anonymous · Answer

Hi Mister Micawber,

Thanks for replying! Another question just popped in my head after I read your sentences!

How can I use the sentence in present tense?

Does it make sense to say " My teacher explains the chart when she is drawing" (or) My teacher gives the explanations when she is drawing the chart?

Thanks a lot!

CalifJim · Answer

Yes. See Mr. M.'s combinations and permutations.

CJ

CalifJim · Answer

AnonymousDoes it make sense to say " My teacher explains the chart when she is drawing" (or) My teacher gives the explanations when she is drawing the chart?

Yes. The present tense is fine. As you probably already know, in the present tense, your sentences imply "always", "regularly", "whenever she explains ...".

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Cool. Thanks a lot!

Mister Micawber · Answer

My teacher explains the chart when she is drawing.
My teacher gives the explanations when she is drawing the chart

Yes, those are fine. As CJ says, we more commonly use 'while' with progressive aspect, and some grammarians quote more careful rules:

We use when, not while, to talk about something that occurs at the same time as a longer action or event that is described in the main clause:

I was asleep in my chair when Dora rang to say she wasn't coming home.
We were playing monopoly when the lights went off.

We also use when, not while, to talk about one event that happens immediately after another and to talk about periods of time in the past.

When the lights went out, everybody groaned: "Oh no, not another power cut!"
When I was a little boy, power cuts were very frequent, but that was just after the war.

while not when

We often prefer while to when to describe the longer action of two events or to talk about two longer actions that go on simultaneously:

Dora left a message on the voice mail while I was asleep in the chair.
While I was writing my Christmas cards, the children were decorating the tree.
I cooked the supper while Jenny did the ironing.

Note from the above examples that while a progressive tense is normally used to describe the longer action associated with a while time clause, simple tenses are also possible. (BBC)

Anonymous · Answer

Hi MM!

Great, that was very helpful! Thanks a lot!

Martin.archangel · Answer

though he can also  use when with progressive tenses right? when goes well with progressive tenses, though while goes better, is that what you mean CalifJim?

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