When I did the shopping, the fire broke out

[Glizdka]

I posted a very similar topic yesterday.

This is my second attempt at creating a sentence in which different combinations of the past simple and the past continuous result in vastly different messages. I want to include an element of danger because it's imaginative. The idea is that 1 should sound "the safest" of all the four options.

1. When I did the shopping, the fire broke out.
2. When I was doing the shopping, the fire broke out.
3. When I did the shopping, the fire was breaking out out.
4. When I was doing the shopping, the fire was breaking out out.

I'm not sure whether the above accomplish what I want them to, and whether they're even grammatical in the first place. I'm not sure if 3 in particular means anything meaningful whatsoever.

"When I did the shopping..." - I finished doing the shopping, checked out, and left the store.
"When I was doing the shopping..." - I was in the middle of strolling down the aisles and choosing products, or waiting in line at the checkout.
"... the fire broke out" - The raging fire took hold of the building.
"... the fire was breaking out" - The fire was only starting to spread, and no serious damage had been done yet.

I'm not sure whether when is the right conjunction, either. Especially 1 reads better with after rather than when in my opinion, though the point of this exercise is that the four sentences should be identical except for the presence/absence of the continuous aspect being the only difference. 2, 3, and 4 read better with when, not after, because I want them to communicate simultaneousness.

I need your help yet again.

 

[emsr2d2]

This is my second attempt at creating a sentence in which different combinations of the past simple and the past continuous result in vastly different messages. I want to include an element of danger because it's imaginative. The idea is that 1 should sound "the safest" of all the four options. I don't know what you mean by "the safest" here.

1. When I did the shopping, the fire broke out. :cross: This only works with "While" at the start.
2. When I was doing the shopping, the fire broke out. :tick: although I would prefer "While I was ...".
3. When I did the shopping, the fire was breaking out. [STRIKE]out.[/STRIKE] :cross: Both "When I did" and "the fire was breaking out" don't work.
4. When I was doing the shopping, the fire was breaking out. [STRIKE]out.[/STRIKE] :cross: You need "While" at the start.

I'm not sure whether the above accomplish what I want them to, and whether they're even grammatical in the first place. I'm not sure if 3 in particular means anything meaningful whatsoever. See my comment above.

"When I did the shopping..." - I finished doing the shopping, checked out, and left the store. :cross: That's not what "When I did the shopping" means.
"When I was doing the shopping..." - I was in the middle of strolling down the aisles and choosing products, or waiting in line at the checkout. :tick: although, as I said, I prefer "While".
"... the fire broke out" - The raging fire took hold of the building. :tick: and :cross: "The fire broke out" uses the correct tense but it doesn't mean what you said. It refers to the very start of a fire - when the flames are just beginning to burn.
"... the fire was breaking out" - The fire was only starting to spread, and no serious damage had been done yet. :cross: A fire doesn't break out gradually so the continuous doesn't work. It breaks out just once. After that, it is spreading.

I'm not sure whether when is the right conjunction, either. [STRIKE]Especially[/STRIKE] #1, particularly, reads better with after rather than when in my opinion, though the point of this exercise is that the four sentences should be identical except for the presence/absence of the continuous aspect being the only difference. 2, 3, and 4 read better with when, not after, because I want them to communicate simultaneousness. Using "After" would lead to a better sentence.

See above.

 

[Glizdka]

Back to starting from scratch it is, then.

Thank you for your thorough explanation, emsr2d2; It's precisely what I needed. You're my heroine. ;-)

 

[jutfrank]

The 'safest' is this: When I'd done the shopping, the fire broke out.

This suggests that the shopping was completed when the fire started. Is that what you mean?

Give up on this, Glizdka. Or make it much clearer to us exactly what the point of this exercise is.

 

[emsr2d2]

You said in post #1 that your aim was to use combinations of tenses in very similar sentences but with very different meanings. I'm not sure what use this is to you. The best way to express very different meanings is to use different words.

While I was [out] shopping, a fire broke out in my house.
Just after I went [out] shopping, a fire broke out in my house.
While I was on my way back home from shopping, a fire broke out in my house.

Those are similar sentences but with different timelines and therefore different meanings. The only constant is "a fire broke out in my house".

 

[Glizdka]

Give up on this, Glizdka. Or make it much clearer to us exactly what the point of this exercise is.

You said in post #1 that your aim was to use combinations of tenses in very similar sentences but with very different meanings. I'm not sure what use this is to you. The best way to express very different meanings is to use different words.

Maybe it's an exercise in futility, but I want to try anyway. My goal is to create four variations of the exact same sentence.

1) past simple / past simple
2) past continuous / past simple
3) past simple / past continuous
4) past continuous / past continuous

One of them, not necessarily #1, sounds safe. Three of them sound dangerous. All four are correct sentences. It's obvious in which situation you'd rather be.

Maybe I'll try without a conjunction first.

 

[emsr2d2]

Maybe it's an exercise in futility, but I want to try anyway. My goal is to create four variations of the exact same sentence.

1) past simple / past simple
2) past continuous / past simple
3) past simple / past continuous
4) past continuous / past continuous

One of them, not necessarily #1, sounds safe. Three of them sound dangerous. All four are correct sentences. It's obvious in which situation you'd rather be.

Maybe I'll try without a conjunction first.

1. While I slept peacefully upstairs, a fire raged downstairs.
2. While I was sleeping peacefully upstairs, a fire raged downstairs.
3. While I slept peacefully upstairs, a fire was raging downstairs.
4. While I was sleeping peacefully upstairs, a fire was raging downstairs.

How's that? It's impossible to use the exact same sentence and simply change the tense if you want one of them to sound "safe". I wouldn't want to be in any of those situations. The situation itself remains the same.

 

[Glizdka]

1. While I slept peacefully upstairs, a fire raged downstairs.
2. While I was sleeping peacefully upstairs, a fire raged downstairs.
3. While I slept peacefully upstairs, a fire was raging downstairs.
4. While I was sleeping peacefully upstairs, a fire was raging downstairs.

How's that? It's impossible to use the exact same sentence and simply change the tense if you want one of them to sound "safe". I wouldn't want to be in any of those situations. The situation itself remains the same.

I think I need a completely different set of sentences. I'll get back when/if I find it.