In the following sentence, which conjunction should be used?
While/when/as John was reading, Peter was listening to music.
I'd appreciate your help.
-
ell.stackexchange.com/questions/167137/… – Justin Stafford Sep 3 '20 at 7:55
-
the above link looks good. – Justin Stafford Sep 3 '20 at 7:56
-
The link to that thread deals with different sentences; here, the sentence is about simultaneous events.There, one event is longer than another. – Apollyon Sep 3 '20 at 8:28
Add a comment
|
While is best for a simple statement that two continuous events were happening at the same time.
When would, I think, imply that every time John sat down with a book, Peter put music on.
As is often used with a gradual change - As the water level was rising - As her health improved...
answered Sep 3 '20 at 8:40
-
I agree with the second. The first is interesting because in programming we have the construct of while loops, where any number of lines can be executed while a condition evaluates to true. – Micah Windsor Sep 3 '20 at 21:34
