RashedVai
Is the construction "while +verb_ed" correct?
I have seen a couple of official correct answer where "while + verb_ing" is correct.
give me an example where "while + verb_ed" is correct.
Hello,
RashedVai. I like these sorts of grammar questions, and here, I would say that yes,
while plus a verb that ends in -ed can create a valid construct. We can consider a few examples, first based on the way in which
while and an -ing conjugation of a verb interact:
While track
ing a scent, the hound walked into a mud hole. (
While is being used to convey an action that occurs at the same time as another. The dog walked into a mud hole even as it was in the process of tracking a scent.)
While press
ed for time, he still managed to squeeze in half an hour of exercise. (
While is being used in an
although sense, not the same one as in the earlier sentence.)
It would not make sense to use
while to indicate a concurrent action when that action and another had occurred in the past, unless you wanted to place a noun or pronoun between
while and the verb:
She waitressed even
while she took on a course load of 20 credit hours that semester.
That is not the cleanest sentence in terms of clarity, but it is passable. (You would not want to pick it on the GMAT™.) I hope that helps, even if a bit. I would be happy to extend the dialogue further.
- Andrew