As I was doing something...

As I was doing something...
 

In an exercise, I wrote:

When I was... (doing something), I realized/realised that...

The correct answer is:

While / As I was doing ...

Shouldn't I use "when" in such sentences?


Thanks :)

Ok en español.

Cuando estaba...(haciendo algo), me dí cuenta que...

¿Es correcto o debo decir?

Mientras estaba haciendo/al estar haciendo tal cosa...

¿No debería usar "cuando" con tales oraciones o frases?

Se despeja el asunto en tu cabeza, ¿o te enredé más? :)

Por eso usé "when", pero while y as también pueden significar "cuando" :thinking:

Creo que me has liado más :rolleyes: :D

Por eso traduje lo que ahora puse en rojo.

Todavía te enreda?

In the sentence above,

As I was doing something ... (something happened):good:
Whilst I was doing something ...(something happened):good:
When I was doing something ...(something happened):good:

As I was walking down the stair
I met a man who wasn't there

Although I would not use 'when' here, I think some would, and I actually don't know if it's 'correct' :thinking: I think it is: (one = one year old etc.)

When I was one I had hardly begone
When I was two I was almost new
When I was three I was barely me
When I was four I wasn't much more
When I was five I was barely alive
Now I am six I'm ever so clever
So now I'll stay six for ever and ever. :)

En español se puede decir "cuando". El ejercicio era una traducción del español, aunque la verdad es que era "al intentar..." :thinking:

Why whilst instead of while?

And you said that you wouldn't use "when" in those sentences, but you did :thinking:

Claro que se puede decir cuando.

Al intentar... depende del contexto si pones lo que sigue va a ser mejor. Pero:

As I intended to...

As I was intending to...intención los dos. :)

"When" me suena bien. "While" o "as" también están bien, pero más formales.

Ah - while or whilst, just preference. And I think "when" is OK as well.

Tómatelo con calma, que es la misma desesperación que siente una persona que quiere hablar español, y lo hace con diferentes personas de diferentes países. :rolleyes:

La frase es:

Al intentar abrir la puerta, se me rompió la llave.

(el resto de la frase está bien).

The answer is:

In/On trying to open... / As / While I was trying to open...

I said: When I was trying to open...

Nil desperandum. When, while, whilst, as are all different registers/dialects/generations but all OK

Correcto, en ese contexto es tratar...al tratar/intentar de abrir...

When I was trying to open... :good:
While I was trying to open... :good:
Whilst I was trying to open... :good:
As I was trying to open... :good:

Although I would use whilst, but this might be unusual

Correct.

As to Nil despenandum, you are trying to tell me you never had a problem in trying to get the meaning or concept of a word or phrase when people of different social stratum or countries or even regions of a country, which of course you have no idea who you are facing...?

:rolleyes:

So, I was right. Thanks! :)

I thought "whilst" was a bit old fashioned... (or at least rather formal). I've seen it in books. :thinking:

But the basic things are the same. You would use "while" or "when" in the same situation.

And as I'm most interested in BrE, I let Perikles and pjt to guide me, though I know that AmE is good enough to learn in my level ;) :)

You are right on both counts.

Both counts? ¿Ambos casos? :thinking: (or both cases? :confused: )

I don't quite understand. It is a constant problem for me, and I tell myself not to despair. :thinking::)

Sí :)