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ESL forum > Ask for help > Tenses    

Tenses



anaram
Spain

Tenses
 
Could anyone please tell me how many different anwers would you accept for this sentence?

While I ___ (sleep), he _____ (clean) the house.

Thanks and have a nice weekend.

23 Nov 2013      





Jessisun
Argentina

While I was sleeping, he was cleaning the house (two actions happening at the same time in the past) Hope it may help you!!!

23 Nov 2013     



anaram
Spain

Thanks for your answer. That �s what I expected but then students came up with lots of different answers and I thought "while I sleep he cleans the house" could also be acceptable as a habit. In fact, there is no context so I �m not too sure how many possibilities there can be.

23 Nov 2013     



edrodmedina
United States

While I slept he cleaned the house.

23 Nov 2013     



MoodyMoody
United States

"While I sleep, he cleans the house" is acceptable. (In my case, it would be delightful, even!)

23 Nov 2013     



PhilipR
Thailand

While I was sleeping, he cleaned the house.

While I was sleeping, he was cleaning the house.

While I sleep, he cleans the house. 

While I slept, he cleaned the house.

While I �ll be sleeping, he will clean the house.

While I �ll be sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house.


23 Nov 2013     



pilarmham
Spain

While I sleep, he will clean the house?

23 Nov 2013     



Sharwong
Canada

I would agree with Phillip, except for ones that contain future time clauses.  The general rule is that future time clauses should be in a present tense; hence

While I am sleeping, he �ll clean the house.
While I am sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house.


23 Nov 2013     



JudyHalevi
Israel

While I was sleeping, he was cleaning the house.
While I am sleeping, he �ll clean the house.
While I �m sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house.

24 Nov 2013     



cunliffe
United Kingdom

�While I �ll be sleeping, he �ll be cleaning the house � needn �t necessarily refer to future time. It can be a description of the norm. As in, �Oh, my husband! I �m sick to death of him, he just can �t relax, whereas I �m really good at chilling. You know, while I �ll be sleeping, he �ll be running round, cleaning the house. � (I �m with you, MoodyMoody) Wink 

24 Nov 2013     



katpak
Poland

And to make it even more complex: We can also say While I �d been sleeping, he cleaned the house, right? :)

24 Nov 2013     

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