the girl began to sob...

[keannu]

A similar question to the previous posting. Like in the following, My grammar book defines the former of (When), but why can't we interprete it as As(because)? Isn't it confusing? How do you correctly choose?

ex) (Being) Left alone, the girl began to sob.
=> When she was left alone or As she was left alone

[JMurray]

My grammar book defines the former of (When), but why can't we interprete it as As(because)? Isn't it confusing? How do you correctly choose?
ex) (Being) Left alone, the girl began to sob.
=> When she was left alone or As she was left alone

keannu.
Only from context can we know whether she is sobbing because she was left alone, or being left alone allowed her the opportunity to sob.

"She needed to feel accepted by her friends and workmates at the party, so when she found herself being left alone, the girl began to sob".
OR
"During dinner she got a phone call saying her father was ill but she kept it to herself, it was none of their business. Later, out on the terrace and left alone, the girl began to sob".

not a teacher

[Raymott]

A similar question to the previous posting. Like in the following, My grammar book defines the former of (When), but why can't we interprete it as As(because)? Isn't it confusing? How do you correctly choose?

ex) (Being) Left alone, the girl began to sob.
=> When she was left alone or As she was left alone

Because the original doesn't necessarily imply causation. It can do - you have to judge from the context.
"Left alone, she started her homework."
You can't infer from this that she started her homework just because she was left alone; only that, after she was left alone, that's what she did.
"Knocked on the head, he became unconscious." In this case, you could reasonably infer causation.
The point your grammar book is making is that, "When she was left alone ..." will always be true, but "Because she was left alone ..." is not necessarily true.

[keannu]

My grammar book defines the former of (When), but why can't we interprete it as As(because)? Isn't it confusing? How do you correctly choose?
ex) (Being) Left alone, the girl began to sob.
=> When she was left alone or As she was left alone

keannu.
Only from context can we know whether she is sobbing because she was left alone, or being left alone allowed her the opportunity to sob.

"She needed to feel accepted by her friends and workmates at the party, so when she found herself being left alone, the girl began to sob".
OR
"During dinner she got a phone call saying her father was ill but she kept it to herself, it was none of their business. Later, out on the terrace and left alone, the girl began to sob".

not a teacher

These are both "when" with no "because", anyway I think context determines everything, so I guess even native speakers are confused about the meaning without a detalied context.

[JMurray]

I take your point keannu, and I might have phrased it differently, but I still think the example clearly indicates that being left alone is the cause of her sobbing. In the second example it is her father's illness that is the cause.
Anyway, I hope it was helpful.

[keannu]

I take your point keannu, and I might have phrased it differently, but I still think the example clearly indicates that being left alone is the cause of her sobbing. In the second example it is her father's illness that is the cause.
Anyway, I hope it was helpful.

It was really helpful, anyway thanks a lot. We share a similiar time zone, so we can talk even now. hehehe..