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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > Grammar help needed!!!
Grammar help needed!!!
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veraviana
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Grammar help needed!!!
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Hi everybody!
Could you please help me with sth here? Can we accept all these sentences as correct?
Yesterday. while Mr. Smith was speaking at the conference, many people were taking notes.
Yesterday, while Mr. Smith spoke at the conference, many people took notes.
Yesterday, while Mr. Smith was speaking at the conference, many people took notes.
Personally, I prefer the first one but at the same time I feel I cannot consider the other ones completely wrong...
What �s your opinion?
Thanks in advance.
Hugs from Portugal,
Vera |
8 Dec 2009
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SMAgnes
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If I know well after using "while" you have to use the -ing form and the two above-mentioned activities are parallel activities so they occured in the same time, that �s why I prefer the first one. |
8 Dec 2009
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schnuffi
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Hi veravina,
sentence one says that both things were happening at the same time
sentence two says that both things happened one after the other
sentence three say that the action of speaking (which took long) was interrupted by the action of taking notes, but then you would have to replace the while with a when
I think sentence one is the thing you wanted to say.
i have a grammar exercise and inroduction paper somewhere on my computer (just hoping that it is only in English, if you want it, and piles of exercises on simple past past progressive. If you need them just drop me a note
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8 Dec 2009
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douglas
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The word "while" pretty much forces us to use the past cont. for both, which means sentence one is correct.
snuffi-- I �m sorry, but I disagree that sentence two indicates that the two things happened one after the other. They could both be simultaneous, but just bad grammar. |
8 Dec 2009
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serenity light
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I think the second sentence would be correct if we replace " while " with " when"
Thus , this will indicate that the two actions happened one after the other,
But I don �t think that we can use " while " followed with past simple, because past continuous would be a better choice. |
8 Dec 2009
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dilac
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I �ve just gone through this topic in my classes and I can say that you can accept first and the third sentence as correct but not the second one.. |
8 Dec 2009
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karama
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hey,dear.
it is not a matter of guessing, i think it is a serious issue.
the best sentence is the first, this is for sure. while others can not be correct at all.
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8 Dec 2009
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veraviana
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Thank you all. I really believed the first one was correct but some doubts crossed my mind all of a sudden after correcting a pile of tests. You know what I �m talking about, right? Sometimes I just need to have a dictionary handy to check simple things such as spelling. Students make lots of mistakes and after a while you just �doubt your own shadow �. LOL
Have a nice week!
Hugs,
Vera |
8 Dec 2009
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alien boy
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I �d have to say that 1 & 2 are correct, while 3 may be permissible in casual conversation but isn�t grammatically consistent.
From Swann�s �Practical English Usage�:
simultaneous long actions: while; as
We usually use while to say that two longer actions or situations go/went on at the same time. We can use progressive or simple tenses.
While you were reading the paper, I was working.
John cooked supper while I watched TV.
In 1 & 2 the tenses are consistent whereas in no 3 they�re mixed. In the examples provided by Swann the tenses agree, that is why I�m dubious about no 3... even though it is something you could typically hear from a native speaker...
Cheers,
AB
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9 Dec 2009
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salimforever
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In some grammar books, " while" is used to join two sentences in the present continuous. "When" is used to join two sentences; one in the present simple and the other in the present continuous. So, if we follow these books, then the first sentence is more correct |
9 Dec 2009
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