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ESL forum >
Grammar and Linguistics > When&While
When&While
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nhlrhn
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When&While
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Hey there friends.
I had a lesson with my adult pre-int. class on past continuous yesterday. And I had difficulty in teaching when and while. Some of the students kept telling me that they �d previously been taught that "when" is ALWAYS followed by past simple and "While" by past continuous tense. I of course told them the typical rules like PAST SIMPLE + WHILE+ PAST CONTINUOUS and WHILE + PAST CONTINUOUS + PAST SIMPLE and ..
I �d like to ask you whether I was wrong forming the following sentence or not ... I am confused...
When I was jogging in the park yesterday , a man stopped me.
Is "when" ok instead of while here?
Thanks in advance :) |
6 Aug 2010
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Chilvis
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I �d use While I was jogging in the park.....
I �ve always taught while + past continuous
Perhaps when there is not completely wrong but at least I think this is not very common
Have you checked in other grammar books? |
6 Aug 2010
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Babs1966
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Hello ;)
In this sentence " I think" It �s perfectly correct if you use both.
While I was jogging in the park yesterday, a man stopped me.
When I was jogging in the park yesterday, a man stopped me.
But with "when" I �d write it more like as follow:
A man stopped me when I was jogging in the park yesterday!
Best thoughts to you, Babs |
6 Aug 2010
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nhlrhn
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Thank Chilvis
Yes I �ve checked many grammar books since yesterday and the problem is that I see sentences with WHEN + PAST CONTINUOUS, and WHILE + PAST SIMPLE. not only in grammar books but also in novels, readers, songs.. you name it.
I just can �t decide if they �re totally interchangeable. Are there exceptions? |
6 Aug 2010
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yanogator
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Alex, you �ll be pround of me!
For strict adherence to the "rules", it should only be "while". However, the "while + Past Continuous" construction has not been followed strictly in the US for a long time. I �m very comfortable with "When I was jogging in the park..."
Generally, the only time "while" is definitely used with the past continuous is if both clauses are in the past continuous, indicating two simultaneous processes.
While I was jogging in the park, I was listening to Beethoven.
Bruce |
6 Aug 2010
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nhlrhn
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Thanks Babs and Yonagator.
You �ve been really helpful. Best wishes ;) |
6 Aug 2010
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Zora
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I dunno, I would say that "while" is used quite often in everyday usage. I �d, for example. say in a quite natural way without thinking twice about it...
While I was having a bath, the phone rang.
While my mom was making dinner, the neighbour stopped by with a cake.
While we were having dinner, the power went out and we needed to scrounge up some candles...
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7 Aug 2010
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yanogator
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Don �t misunderstand me. I didn �t say that "while" is becoming rare in North America, just that "when" is also becoming common. In Zora �s examples, "while" definitely sounds more natural than "when".
Bruce |
7 Aug 2010
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