Grammar: Adverbs (time expressions)

• when/ while

• when is used for shorter actions, when is usually used with simple tenses
• while is used for longer actions,  while with progressive tenses

For example, let’s look at two actions, one short and one long:

1) Short action – Fall down (it only takes a second to fall down)

2) Long action – Ride a bike (bike rides can last a long time)

Because one is long and one is short, these two actions can’t happen at the same time. The short action interrupts the long action:

• I was riding my bike when I fell down.
• I fell down while I was riding my bike.

Let’s consider two more actions:

1) Reading a book

2) Telephone ringing

It is clear that the telephone ringing is the shorter action, it only takes a few seconds:

• I was reading a book when the telephone rang.
• The telephone rang while I was reading a book.

• when/ untill

In a way, these two words are opposites. Have a look at the following timelines:

• 6:00 pm – I start writing.
• 7:00 pm – Dinner is ready.
• 7:00 pm – I stop writing and eat dinner.

For this situation, you can say both:

• I stopped writing when dinner was ready.
• I wrote until dinner was ready.

Until often is used to show a surprising situation. Consider:

• John could speak when he was 8.
• John couldn’t speak until he was 8.

In the first sentence, we are not sure when he started speaking; only that he could at 8 years old.

In the second sentence, we are clearly surprised because 8 is very late to start speaking.

• when/ as soon as

 The adverbs when and as soon as have roughly the same meaning, but not exactly the same. Consider the following situations:

• "I’ll finish my homework when I get home."

The speaker gets home at 4:00pm. He does his homework between 4:00 and his bedtime.

• "I’ll finish my homework as soon as I get home."

The speaker gets home at 4:00pm. He works on his homework immediately, and finishes soon after.

What is the difference between these sentences?

• I’ll buy an umbrella when the rainy season starts.
• I’ll buy an umbrella as soon as the rainy season starts.

In the first sentence, the speaker may buy the umbrella a day or even a week after the first rain, but in the second sentence, it sounds like he will buy the umbrella a few minutes after the first rain.

To answer the question above, it is probably more polite to say I’ll do it as soon as I can because this shows that you consider it important enough not to wait.

引“English online"