英语母语者讨论when doing, I do, I am doing

Hi,

please, could you help me with these sentences?

Which is right to say?

"I sit at my desk when doing/ I do/ I am doing my homework."

And also.

"My mother sits next to me when I do/ when I am doing my homework." Does this depend on whether I use when or while?

Although it is basic grammar I'm still confused.

Thank you very much.

回答

I think you could choose any of those options in both sentences without any significant change in meaning!

There may be minor shades of meaning among them, but really all six possibilities are fine. You can use 'when' or 'while', and you can use any of the three verb forms. You've also correctly noticed that one of the possibilities is not allowed when your mother is brought in as subject:

My mother sits next to me when/while doing my homework. - Here the subject of 'doing' is not specified, so it comes from the subject of the main clause: your mother is doing the homework!

When talking about habitual actions we normally use present simple. In this case you ar e saying that “every time you do your homework you sit at your desk or your mum sits next you”. I would use present simple for both sentences:

I sit at my desk when I do my homework.

My mother sits next to me when I do my homework.

When we use while, we mean the process is ongoing or we’re emphasising the action, so I would use the present continuous:

While I am doing my homework, my mum sits next to me

(I would say that while follows the same pattern as in describing past actions: While I was doing my homework, my mum sat next to me).

But that’s the theory… as T azzler says I guess both could be right, I leave that to wiser foreros.