were you playing when you broke your arm

[diamondcutter]

Dan: What's the matter with your arm?
Alvin: I broke it last Saturday.
Shari: How did that happen?
Alvin: Well...On Saturday morning, my dad and I were walking up a really big hill. What an adventure! I was jumping over a rock when I fell.
Shari: So...were you playing when you broke your arm?
Alvin: No, I wasn't playing and that wasn't when I broke my arm.
Alvin: We were in the woods, and we had to cross a really fast river. We were walking across the bridge when I put my foot through a hole and fell again.
Dan: And that's how you broke your arm!
Alvin: Well...no.
Alvin: When I got home, I was standing on one leg to take my dirty boots off and I fell over.
Shari and Dan: And that's how you broke your arm!
Alvin: Yeah.

Source: Kid’s Box 6, an English textbook for children, CUP

So...were you playing when you broke your arm?

Could this sentence be changed as follows?

So...did you break your arm when you were you playing?

The reason for my change is that the new version is easier for people who speak Chinese to understand.

What do you think of my version? Is it as good as the original one or worse?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Dan: What's the matter with your arm?
Alvin: I broke it last Saturday.
Shari: How did that happen?
Alvin: Well, on Saturday morning, my dad and I were walking up a really big hill. What an adventure! I was jumping over a rock when I fell.
Shari: So, were you playing when you broke your arm?
Alvin: No, I wasn't playing, and that wasn't when I broke my arm.
Alvin: We were in the woods, and we had to cross a really fast river. We were walking across the bridge when I put my foot through a hole and fell in.
Dan: And that's how you broke your arm!
Alvin: Well, no.
Alvin: When I got home, I was standing on one leg to take my dirty boots off, and I fell over.

[To take two boots off, you have to stand on two legs (one, then the other) or sit down.]

Shari and Dan: And that's how you broke your arm!

[I doubt they said that in unison!]

Alvin: Yeah.

Source: Kid’s Box 6, an English textbook for children, CUP

So, were you playing when you broke your arm?

Could this sentence be changed as follows?

So, did you break your arm when you were you playing?

Yes.

The reason for my change is that the new version is easier for people who speak Chinese to understand.

Since the purpose of the exercise is to learn English, that's an odd reason to change the wording.

What do you think of my version? Is it as good as the original one or worse?

It's not better or worse. It's fine. But I'm not sure simplifying it for students is a good idea. It was natural as written, and we want students to learn to speak English naturally.

As you can see, I don't think it was written carefully. I don't blame you for wanting to improve it!

 

[jutfrank]

The reason for my change is that the new version is easier for people who speak Chinese to understand.

Please explain further what you mean. Who are you changing the dialogue for?

 

[diamondcutter]

Thanks, Charlie and Jutfrank.

I just wanted to understand that sentence. Now I have no questions about it.

This is the recording for the dialogue.

View attachment 36 ?? 36_1.mp3

 

[jutfrank]

I see.

Both of the following sentences are natural and correct:

Did you break your arm when you were playing?
Were you playing when you broke your arm?

What do you think the difference(s) in use might be?

 

[diamondcutter]

I see.

1. Did you break your arm when you were playing?
2. Were you playing when you broke your arm?

What do you think the difference(s) in use might be?

I think these two sentences emphasize different things. The first emphasizes what happened when you were playing, and the second emphasizes what you were doing when you broke your arm. We can see more clearly from the following two dialogues.

--What happened when you were playing?
--I broke my arm.

--What were you doing when you broke your arm?
--I was playing.

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, excellent, well done.