Pioneer Educational School

Scholastic Year 2020/2021

English Department
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Grade: Six National When / While / As Grammar: Past simple & past continuous

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As, when and while are conjunctions. We usually use (When / While / As) to
connect two actions.

When / (as) + past simple (short action)

While / (as) + Past continuous (long action)

We use when, as and while to talk about

 Parallel actions ( both actions are in the same tense)

Ex: As I opened my eyes, I saw a bright light.

Ex: Joe was studying while Lara was tidying her room.
Ex: When it started to rain, we went inside.

 Interruption ( past continuous + past simple in the same sentence)

Ex: He was walking back to his flat when he heard an explosion.

Ex: As they were signing the contract, they noticed that a page was missing.
Ex: Lucy came into the room while he was waiting.

 We also use when to talk about a period of a person’s life.

Ex: When Ali was in school, he won the spelling competition.

Ex: When you were a kid, you used to be so shy.

Ex: When I was a child, I played soccer.

  If ( While / as / When ) came at the beginning of a sentence
we use a comma before the main clause.

Example:

 While I was a taking a shower, my mother was cleaning the attic.

 My mother was cleaning the attic while I was taking a shower.

The End