While When

When While Use in English and
Examples
When learning English, it is important to be careful about special conjunctions as well as
tenses. Two most commonly used conjunctions are “when” and “while”. While “when”
conjunction has the meaning of a completed action, “while” is more like a sustained
action.
Generally, both “when” and “while” conjunctions are related to past tense.
Whereas “while” emphasizes an act in certain times or continues in a determined time
frame, “when” is used for actions in the past that do not last or instant actions.
However, you can see both of these conjunctions in the Simple Present Tense and
Present Continuous Tense structures below.
Using When and While Conjunctions in a Sentence
 While John was driving home, he saw a great accident.
 While you are using acid solvents, you should be careful.
 When the doorbell rang, the old man was having a nap in the living room.
 When it rains heavily, all the streets and pavements around get muddy.
While and Past Continuous Tense

The “while” conjunction is used for expressing the two actions that continue in the past.
Usage 1
These are the sentences in which the same or different objects carried out an action while
an action is on-going in the past and that interrupts or intervenes with the first action.
Example:
 While I was making a birthday cake, a bee flew in the kitchen through the open
window.
 While I was making the birthday cake, I poured a glass of salt instead of sugar into it.
The formulation of actions in this sentence can be summarized as follows:
 (While) + (Past Continuous Tense) + (,) (Simple Past Tense)
Usage 2
(Simple Past Tense) + (while) + (Past Continuous Tense)
 A bee flew in the kitchen through the open window while I was making a
birthday cake.
 I poured a glass of salt instead of sugar into the birthday cake while I
was making it.
You might have noticed the comma in the first formulation. In sentences that
start with either when or while, the clause after the conjunctions is separated
from the second clause with a comma. But if “when” or “while” is used in the
second section rather than at the beginning of a sentence, you do not need to
separate the clauses with a comma. While this important thing looks like a
grammar rule, you can see that the comma supports the correct English
meaning when the sentence unity is considered.
While and Two Long-Term Actions
The second case with Past Continuous Tense and “while” is used for
describing two actions sustained by two different objects in the same time
frame. Since two actions that meet this condition are continuous, or since they
are long-term actions, both of them are expressed in Past Continuous Tense.
Example:
 Phil was trying to mend his car while his brother was curiously watching
him.
 Flight attendants were checking our tickets while we were gazing at the
control panels in front of us.
The second formulation can be summarized as follows:
 (While) + (Object-1) + (Past Continuous Tense / Action-1), (Object-

2) + (Past Continuous Tense / Action-2)
 (Object-1) + (Past Continuous Tense / Action-1) + (While) + (Object-
2) + (Past Continuous Tense / Action-2)
Using As Instead of While
The third formulation for “while” and Past Continuous Tense include sentence
in which “as” conjunction is used instead of “while”.
Example:
 As they were walking along the street, they met a fantastic view of a
shining Christmas tree.
 As I was waiting for the bus, I met my best school friend.
In both examples, “as” conjunction can be used instead of “while”. Both

conjunctions are placed before the long-term action or before the action
interrupted by the other one. Thus, these emphasize the continuity.
When and Simple Past Tense
In fact, “when” and “while” conjunction usage shows a highly ruled structure.
You need to check how these two conjunctions are used to express the actions
to understand how long- and short-term actions are linked in English.
You need to remember that while “when” is similar to “while” conjunction, it

has a wider usage area. These areas can be summarized with three different
formulations:
Formulation 1:
As you can see in “while” conjunction, “when” conjunction has an important

function to compare two short- and long-term actions in English. But the tip
here is that short-term action is used in Simple Past Tense and the “when”
conjunction is placed before the action to emphasize this action. The comma
in “while” is also a valid property for the “when” conjunction.
Example:
 When the doorbell rang, I was sleeping.

 John was playing the guitar when Linda came in.
Formulation:
 (When) + (Simple Past Tense) (,) (Past Continuous Tense)

 (Past Continuous Tense) (When) + (Simple Past Tense)
Formulation 2:
The second case is using the “when” conjunction to emphasize the order of
two short-term actions. Here, the “when” conjunction emphasizes the first
continuous action rather than interrupting actions.
Example:
 When they went into the room, they saw the surprise.
 When the teacher summoned me, I put down my pen and handed my
exam paper.
Formulation:
(When) + (Simple Past Tense) (,) (Simple Past Tense)
Formulation 3:
The third and the last case is using the “when” conjunction to connect an
action with another past action to express a past time frame. This
conjunction determines the past tense of another action instead of using
adverb of time.
Example:
 Mike used to speak four languages when he started primary school.
 When Mike started primary school, he used to speak four languages.
Formulation:
 (When) + (Object) + (Simple Past Tense / Action-1), (Object) +

(Simple Past Tense / used to / Modal / Action-2)
Of course, the most effective way to learn English is to practice. Do not

miss your chance to practice anytime and on any topic including “when /
while”.

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When While Use in English and

Using When and While Conjunctions in a Sentence

 While John was driving home, he saw a great accident.

 While you are using acid solvents, you should be careful.

While and Past Continuous Tense

 (While) + (Past Continuous Tense) + (,) (Simple Past Tense)

While and Two Long-Term Actions

The second formulation can be summarized as follows:

 (While) + (Object-1) + (Past Continuous Tense / Action-1), (Object-

In both examples, “as” conjunction can be used instead of “while”. Both

When and Simple Past Tense

You need to remember that while “when” is similar to “while” conjunction, it

As you can see in “while” conjunction, “when” conjunction has an important

 When the doorbell rang, I was sleeping.

 (When) + (Simple Past Tense) (,) (Past Continuous Tense)

(When) + (Simple Past Tense) (,) (Simple Past Tense)

 (When) + (Object) + (Simple Past Tense / Action-1), (Object) +

Of course, the most effective way to learn English is to practice. Do not

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