Hey friends you know what? When I was a child, I was very naughty. I don't know if I should
say? When I was a child or while I was a child? I'm a little confused. Are you confused? Well,
a little, let's find out. Today we are going to look at, when to use when and while? When
we are referring to actions that were happening at the same time or maybe sometimes you refer
to a past period in your life and you want to say, " That time something happened". And
often we get confused as in when to use when? And when to use why? So let's take a look.
If I say, " I was reading, when you called". Now use when in a sentence, when you have
a short action. So you have a long action. Now imagine I'm reading like I've been reading
for two hours and in those two hours, you call. So when you called the shorter action
is interrupted. So you have a longer action and call is a shorter action use when. To
say" I was reading while you called" Does it sound right? No. You want to say at that
moment. When you called at that moment. So you may have a long action in the sentence
like this a continuous action. But you have a shorter action interrupting use when, so
when you have a shorter action in the sentence. It is always better to use when.
Now let's see how you'd use while? If I say “I was working, while you were reading".
Now if you see two actions were happening simultaneously. I was working, so working
I was working probably for three hours and you were reading. So reading was also happening
over a long period of time, when you are talking about two long actions, it is always better
to use while. Well, you could use when, but like I said longer actions use while. “So
while you were reading". So for example, “I was cooking, while you were surfing the internet".
That means my action of cooking was a long action and you were surfing maybe for probably
half an hour. So the action both the actions were in continuity and both were long. So
it is always better to use while. You can use when, but if you have too long actions
that were happening simultaneously use while.
My next example “I like to wear casual clothes, when I'm on holiday". Now here I'm talking
about some point of time. When? At that time. Which time? When I'm on holiday. I like to
wear casual clothes, when I'm on a holiday that means at that time. While I'm on holiday.
No, so when I'm on a holiday or you want to say one action happens immediately after the
other use when. So here you're referring to at that time, so use when. Because if you
say “I like to wear casual clothes, while I'm on a holiday" No, you are referring to
at that time. Which point of time? When you're on a holiday. So use when, so do not use while
in this such a sentence. This would really not give you the correct picture or the meaning.
Use when, when you want to say “At that point of time". Or “At that time.
Now my next example, "He came out, when the bell rang". Now if you go to see, one action
follows another. So when you have one action following the other use when. He came out
when? When the bell rang, so the bell rang and he came out. So one action is happening
after the other. First the bell rang then he came out, so when you have such short actions
in this case there are almost two short actions. Use when or I can say" He fell when he climbed
the tree" So he fell, when he climbed, so he climbed and he fell, so maybe at that time
one action happened after the other. You could use when in such a situation, when you have
two shorter actions or when you want to say one action immediately happened after another
action use when. Now if I said the same thing with while, “He came out while the bell
rang". No, you can't have such a sentence. Well, people will eventually understand what
you mean to say, but it is always better to use when the bell rang. So remember when one
action immediately happens after another, it is always better to use when, because probably
we are talking about too short actions. So there is a slight difference between the two
and this how you identify the difference. Now supposing I'm referring to a particular
phase of life or maybe period of life, I'm going back in the past and saying, “When
I was a child or when I was a teenager or when I was in college. I had a great time".
So when you talk about an age or a period of life use when like this, “When I was
a child we lived in London. Now when I was a child, it’s a particular age or a period
of life. “When I was a child, we lived in London that means at that particular age or
a period of life. We lived in London. So I'm referring to a past time, maybe at that time,
when I was of that age this is what happened. So remember use when, when you talk about
age or a particular period of life or a stage of life.
Now if I use while, It would really not make sense, because I can't say, “While I was
a child, we lived in London. So while I was a child. Does it make sense? No I'm referring
to a stage of life of mine and that should be when and not while. So the correct one
would be “When I was a child" So you do not use while to refer to age or a particular
stage or a phase or a period in your life use when. Do remember this. This is very important.
So this is the small difference between when and while. When you are talking about two
actions one is a long one, one is a short one that has interrupted the long action.
Use when, but if you're talking about two long actions that was simultaneously happening
in the past. Well, go ahead and use while. When you want to say at that point of time
use when, do not use while. For example, I like to wear casuals, when I'm on a holiday,
don't say while I'm on a holiday.
When one action follows the other specially when there are two small actions. Please use
when, It is a better option than while. And yes definitely when you are referring to an
age or a stage in your life. Maybe a particular phase, a period in your life. Go ahead and
use when, because it is absolutely incorrect to use while.
So this is the small difference between when and while and I hope you enjoy this lesson.
Go ahead and use these two words correctly, when you speak in your day to day life. I
do have a small test for you, take it and let me know your scores. I'll be back soon
with a new lesson. Till then take care and bye.