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ESL forum >
Ask for help > Tenses
Tenses

anaram
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Tenses
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Could anyone please tell me how many different anwers would you accept for this sentence?
While I ___ (sleep), he _____ (clean) the house.
Thanks and have a nice weekend.
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23 Nov 2013
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Jessisun
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While I was sleeping, he was cleaning the house (two actions happening at the same time in the past) Hope it may help you!!! |
23 Nov 2013
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anaram
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Thanks for your answer. That �s what I expected but then students came up with lots of different answers and I thought "while I sleep he cleans the house" could also be acceptable as a habit. In fact, there is no context so I �m not too sure how many possibilities there can be.
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23 Nov 2013
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edrodmedina
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While I slept he cleaned the house. |
23 Nov 2013
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MoodyMoody
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"While I sleep, he cleans the house" is acceptable. (In my case, it would be delightful, even!) |
23 Nov 2013
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PhilipR
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While I was sleeping, he cleaned the house.
While I was sleeping, he was cleaning the house.
While I sleep, he cleans the house.
While I slept, he cleaned the house.
While I �ll be sleeping, he will clean the house.
While I �ll be sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house.
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23 Nov 2013
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pilarmham
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While I sleep, he will clean the house?
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23 Nov 2013
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Sharwong
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I would agree with Phillip, except for ones that contain future time clauses. The general rule is that future time clauses should be in a present tense; hence
While I am sleeping, he �ll clean the house. While I am sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house.
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23 Nov 2013
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JudyHalevi
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While I was sleeping, he was cleaning the house. While I am sleeping, he �ll clean the house. While I �m sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house.
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24 Nov 2013
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cunliffe
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�While I �ll be sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house � needn �t necessarily refer to future time. It can be a description of the norm. As in, �Oh, my husband! I �m sick to death of him, he just can �t relax, whereas I �m really good at chilling. You know, while I �ll be sleeping, he �ll be running round, cleaning the house. � (I �m with you, MoodyMoody)
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24 Nov 2013
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katpak
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And to make it even more complex: We can also say While I �d been sleeping, he cleaned the house, right? :)
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24 Nov 2013
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