The proper use of grammar is essential for improving our speaking and writing skills, as it is the basic set of rules that help us form the right sentences. During and While are the two necessary grammatical usages that ought to be targeted. As people mostly get confused with these two words and their usage in sentence formation.
During vs While
The main difference between During and While is that During tells us when something happens at a particular time and it is followed by a noun; Whereas While is a word that describes two different activities or events that take place at the same time, and it is followed by a subject and a verb.
During is used to express the things that happened throughout an event. For example – if there is a football match going on, the match will be considered an event. And anything that occurs between the period of that match will be indicated using the word During.
-My friends didn’t talk to me During the match. (During is used to show that there was no conversation throughout the match.)
On the other hand, While is a word that works between two situations at the same time, Let’s understand this with an example: The man was eating food and watching the T.V at the same time. In this sentence, a man is performing two tasks at the same time. To express this we will use the word While:
The man was eating food While he was watching the T.V.
Comparison Table Between During and While
| Parameters of Comparison | During | While |
| Classified as | Preposition | Conjunction |
| Followed by | During is followed by a noun | While is followed by a subject and a verb |
| Based on | It based on a duration of time | It is based on a subject and the action performed at a particular time. |
| Uses | Used to express the things that happen over a period of time | It is used to express the actions performed by the subject |
| Function | It’s function is to tell what happened throughout the event | It’s function is to show the connection between two actions performed by the subject. |
What is During?
During is a preposition followed by a noun which means you cannot use a verb, conjunction, or any other part of speech after During. It is the word in grammar that tells us what happened over time? What are the activities, or what are the main things that took place at that particular course of the event? There can be many things that can take place between the time. To demonstrate these activities that had happened over a period, we use During.
To understand this consider the following statement: There was a presentation going on from 10.00 a.m till 3.00 p.m. Consequently, whatever took place between these times, will be expressed with the word During. For example:
-She didn’t talk During the presentation.
-He was napping During the presentation.
People are often confused with the use of During and While. Let’s understand this with an example:
-I was eating During/While watching television. (Here, two activities are taking place at the same time. So While will be the answer.)
-She reads every day During/ While her exams. (Here we have an event exam, and throughout the exams, she studied. So During will be the correct answer.)
What is While?
While is conjunction followed by a subject and verb that joins the activities performed by one or more subjects; it is the word in the grammar that tells us about the actions or activities performed by a subject at a particular time. The main rule to use While in a sentence is that there can be one or more subjects but there should be more than one activity taking place simultaneously. If these conditions are satisfied we can use the word While.
To be more precise, consider the following example- Raju was driving a car and his wife was singing, so we have two subjects performing two different activities at the same time. So, to express these actions in a sentence we will use While.
-His wife was singing while Raju was driving a car.
Consider the following examples to differentiate the correct usage of While:
-Please don’t smoke During/While I’m eating. (There are two actions taking place simultaneously, and we have two subjects. So, we will use the word While)
- I had a good time During/While the trip (There is an event call trip and he had a good time throughout the trip. So, we will use the word During.)
Main Differences Between During and While
- The word During refers to an event or activities that occurred over time, whereas the word While refers to actions that occurred at the same time.
2. During is a Preposition and While is a Conjunction.
3. They almost mean the same in grammar, but the sentence structure differs.
4. During mainly focused on the actions that took place at the time. Whereas, While mainly focused on the actions carried out at the same time.
5. In simple words During means over some time and While means simultaneously.
Conclusion
There are times when we aren’t sure whether the way we form our words or the way we speak is correct. And it becomes very confusing to find the correct sentence or the right word so that we will be able to express our thoughts clearly. That’s where grammar comes into play; it teaches us the basic rules and provides us the structure which helps us in the formation of correct sentences. During and While are the parts of grammar, that means the same but have different grammatical uses or sentence structure.
The main point to remember when we use While and During is that; when we use During we should remember that action has taken place over a period of time. When using While remember that two actions or tasks are occurring at the same time. Once these two points are clear, it will not be difficult to differentiate the uses of During and While.
References
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272638612703645
- https://journals.lww.com/neuroreport/Fulltext/2003/05230/An_fMRI_study_with_written_Chinese.11.aspx