When and While
Its usal see “when” and “while” in any verbal tense to indicate simultaneous events:
- He finished it when/while we were at the beach. — Lo terminó cuando/mientras estábamos en la playa.
- I always go shopping when/while you are at work. — Siempre voy de compras cuando/mientras estás en el trabajo.
Normally when we use when (Cuando) and while (Mientras) in English we do a combination of two verb tenses: the past simple and the past continuous. This happens because while we are expressing an action that was in progress in the past, the action intersects with another that to some extent interrupts the first one, that is, you have to stop doing what you were doing to attend to the new circumstance. For example;
- While I was watching TV someone knocked the door.
- I was walking home when I saw Steve.
Differences
Although both conjunctions indicate simultaneity between two or more actions, each one conveys different nuances:
When is used to indicate short actions that fall in the middle of a longer action: He was walking home when he heard the explosion.
While is used to indicate longer actions that overlap with other long actions: He was walking home while the thieves prepared the heist.
How to use them
Exercises:
