Today we're doing the difference between during and while and later meanwhile
They all mean "At the same time" or "In the middle of another action"
but we use them in different ways
let me give you an example
We'll start with during (ˈdʒʊərɪŋ) or during (ˈdjʊərɪŋ)
both pronunciations are fine
doesn't matter how you pronounce it
but in a sentence there must be a noun after the word "During"
I pronounce it ˈdʒʊərɪŋ
For example I want to say
I hate people who talk in the middle of movies
it's very annoying don't do it
but I replace "in the middle of" with "during"
it means the same thing
and after we have that noun: "movies"
That's perfect! This is a good sentence! It's great!
You're beautiful!
Beautiful sentence
But how about "while"? It means the same thing
Can I replace "During" with "While"?
No! If I say "I hate people who talk while movies"
this is a rubbish sentence
you can't say that
so how do we use while
With "while" you need a clause
A subject and a verb, a sentence
so let's imagine you're in bed, you're trying to sleep
and then all of a sudden
BANG!
you hear a loud noise
so in the middle of trying to sleep
you heard a noise, there was an interruption
while I was trying to sleep I heard a noise
and it doesn't matter where you put this sentence
it could be first it could be after like
I heard a noise while I was trying to sleep
That's fine it doesn't matter where you put it
also notice the subject is the same in both sentences
While I was trying to sleep, I heard a noise
In this case you don't need to repeat the subject (ONLY REMOVE SUBJECT IN CONTINUOUS FORMS!)
In the "While" sentence
so we could have
"While trying..."
we'd actually remove the BE verb for continuous tenses
Doesn't matter if it's WAS in past continuous or IS in present
and the subject of course if it's the same
so it could read
"While trying to sleep, I heard a noise"
Or of course
"I heard a noise while trying to sleep"
That's fine too
but
if you remove the subject and the BE verb (AGAIN, ONLY REMOVE SUBJECT IN CONTINUOUS FORMS)
then it definitely definitely sounds more formal
so keep that in mind if you're trying to speak formally that sounds great
but in casual conversation it's much more common not to do that
I would more commonly say
"Oh my god last night while I was trying to sleep I heard a noise...
...and it made me cry"
Should we use WHILE only with continuous tenses?
No not necessarily
Let me give you an example
"I played drums while she slept"
this is not a continuous tense
this is a past simple
How about a present simple? Let's try that!
"She eats ice cream while I work"
or the other way
"While I work, she just eats ice cream"
This is a present simple tense
so it doesn't have to be past
doesn't have to be past continuous
it can be anything
just know that WHILE means "In the middle of THIS, THIS happens"
or "At the same time as THIS, THIS happens"
that's how you use
But how about "Meanwhile"? is that the same thing it sounds the same
How do I use that?
Well this also means "at the same time" but more commonly it's used to
talk about two different locations, two completely different subjects
For example:
In one city Superman was flying and saving the world
at the same time in a different city
Or we could say MEANWHILE!
Remember "Meanwhile" means "at the same time"
but in a different thing
Superman was flying and saving the world
meanwhile in Gotham (in a different place)
Batman was crying
Emo
I hope you enjoyed today's lesson
Tell me in the comments: Why was Batman crying?
Also try to make your own sentences using during, while, and meanwhile
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I'll see you in the next class