Jose Carillo's English Forum
Joe Carillo's Desk => You Asked Me This Question => Topic started by: Joe Carillo on October 13, 2014, 08:27:56 PM
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Question e-mailed by Farhad H. from Karaj, Iran (October 13, 2014):
Hello!
Hope you are fine.
I have a question:
Which one is correct? And if all of them are correct, then what is the difference between them?
“________ I was getting off the bus, I saw Peter.”
(a) As
(b) When
(c) While
Thank you for taking the time to help me. I wish you all the best in life.
Farhad
My reply to Farhad:
The conjunctions “as,” “when,” and “while” practically mean the same thing—“at or during the time that.” They all denote simultaneity of one action and another, so each of them can be used correctly in the sentence you presented without any perceptible difference in sense:
(1) “As I was getting off the bus, I saw Peter.”
(2) “When I was getting off the bus, I saw Peter.”
(3) “While I was getting off the bus, I saw Peter.”
From a functional and structural standpoint, “as” serves in Sentence 1 as a coordinating conjunction, meaning that it is used to link two coordinate clauses of equal grammatical rank. On the other hand, both “when” and “while” serve in Sentences 2 and 3, respectively, as subordinating conjunctions, meaning that they link a subordinate (dependent) clause to a main (independent) clause.
It’s important to keep in mind though that the similarity in meaning of “as,” “when,” and “while” and their interchangeability generally apply only to stand-alone, generic sentences like the ones you provided. There will be significant differences in their usage and sense when the context for the simultaneous actions is more specific and detailed.
“As” and “when.” As rule of thumb, “as” can be used to link two events or actions happening at the same time, as in this example:
“As I drove my childhood friend from the airport to the hotel, we talked excitedly about old times.”
The verb that follows “as” can either be in the simple tense or progressive tense. The progressive form is used to emphasize an action that interrupts or occurs while another action is taking place, as in this example:
“As we were studying for our final exams, we found ourselves taking snack breaks much too often.”
In contrast, “when” can be used to introduce a single completed event that takes place at some point during an event of longer duration—the background event. In such cases, the main clause describing the background event often uses the progressive form of the verb, as in this example:
“Our professor was discussing his grading system with us when the dean came into the classroom unannounced.”
“While” and “as.” Either of these conjunctions can be used to denote two ongoing events or actions that happen at the same time. Either the simple or progressive form of the verb can be used for the simultaneous actions, as follows:
“During summers, I bagged the groceries for customers at our family-owned convenience store while my elder sister tended to the cash register.”
“We were taking selfies with native figurines at a curio shop as our foreign friends were promenading at the park.”
One important caveat: Aside from being conjunctions, “as,” “when,” and “while” can also function as prepositions, pronouns, and adverbs. The discussions about their usage above obviously don’t apply to these other functions, which must be studied separately to avoid confusion.