[Grammar] -ing or not?

[tbentsen77]

I stumbled upon this sentence which in my oppinion isn't correct:
"The dog barked when the neighbour walked by the garden gate".

I'd say that the correct sentence would be:
"The dog barked when the neighbour was walking by the garden gate", according to the rule of one action interrupting another.

Another example could be:
"I was doing the dishes, when it knocked on the door", or "It knocked on the door when I was doing the dishes".

Anyone cares to comment?

Thanks!

 

[corum]

The dog barked when the neighbour walked by the garden gate. :tick:

 

[Johnson_F]

"I was doing the dishes, when it knocked on the door", or "It knocked on the door when I was doing the dishes".
Thanks!

'I was doing' is fine.
'It knocked' is not.' There was a knock at/on the door' is what you want.

 

[Raymott]

I stumbled upon this sentence which in my oppinion isn't correct:
"The dog barked when the neighbour walked by the garden gate".

I'd say that the correct sentence would be:
"The dog barked when the neighbour was walking by the garden gate", according to the rule of one action interrupting another.
Not necessarily.

Another example could be:
"I was doing the dishes, when it knocked on the door", or "It knocked on the door when I was doing the dishes".

Anyone cares to comment?

Thanks!

Your second example is not an example of the first. If I understand you correctly, in the first example you want to know the difference between "walked" and "was walking"
Your second example would have to read: "When I was doing the dishes ..." vs. "When I did the dishes"

Is that your question?

 

[e2e4]

/A learner/

1. The dog started to bark when the neighbour appeared by the garden gate.

2.The dog barked (when) while the neighbour was walking by the garden gate.[/QUOTE]

2. The dog barked as the neighbour walked by the garden.

:?:

 

[corum]

/A learner/

1. The dog started to bark when the neighbour appeared by the garden gate.

2.The dog barked (when) while the neighbour was walking by the garden gate.

The dog barked as/when/while the neigbour walked by the garden. :tick:
The dog was barking while the neighbor walked by the garden. :tick: (tense simplification)
The dog was barking while/when/as the neighbor was walking by the garden. :tick:

 

[tbentsen77]

Your second example is not an example of the first. If I understand you correctly, in the first example you want to know the difference between "walked" and "was walking"
Your second example would have to read: "When I was doing the dishes ..." vs. "When I did the dishes"

Is that your question?

Hey guys! Thanks for all your answers!

@Raymott: What I think the sentence wants to express is that the dog started to bark when someone walked / was wlaking past its garden gate.

Let's take another example:

If I say: "Peter was cleaning while Judy was doing the dishes", I imply that the two actions take place at the same time.

If I say: "I was walking down the street when someone pushed me in the back" or "Yesterday, someone pushed me in the back when I was walking down the street", then I mean to tell you that I was doing one action (walking) when another action (pushed) interrupted the first one.

Same as with the dog and the neighbour: The neighbour was walking past the garden gate when something interrupted him = the dog barked.

It's tricky to explain, I know ... If I still don't make myself clear, please let me know, and I'll give it another try.

Thanks!

 

[Raymott]

Hey guys! Thanks for all your answers!

@Raymott: What I think the sentence wants to express is that the dog started to bark when someone walked / was wlaking past its garden gate.

Let's take another example:

If I say: "Peter was cleaning while Judy was doing the dishes", I imply that the two actions take place at the same time.

If I say: "I was walking down the street when someone pushed me in the back" or "Yesterday, someone pushed me in the back when I was walking down the street", then I mean to tell you that I was doing one action (walking) when another action (pushed) interrupted the first one.

Same as with the dog and the neighbour: The neighbour was walking past the garden gate when something interrupted him = the dog barked.

It's tricky to explain, I know ... If I still don't make myself clear, please let me know, and I'll give it another try.

Thanks!

There's still no actual question. I'll assume you want to know about the difference between the simple past and the past progressive in sentences where two things happen at the same time.

If you want to stress that one thing interrupted another, yes you use the progressive: 1. "The dog barked when the neighbour was walking past".
But you could still say, 2. "The dog barked when the neighbour walked past", since there's no necessity that the neighbour was interrupted at all.
So, the sentence in your original post in not wrong.

With "while":
There is a difference between, 3. "Someone pushed me while I was walking along" and 4. "Someone pushed me while I walked along."
In 3. one thing interrupted another.
In 4. with the use of "while", it seems that someone was pushing you while you were walking along". That is, the use of "while" rather than "when" can change the sense into a progressive action.

With "when":
5. "Someone pushed me when I walked along." This would be an incorrect sentence in most contexts; and this is what you might be reacting to in your original sentence. "Walking along" is intrinsically progressive, so it doesn't really explain when someone pushed you.

With "as"
6. "Someone pushed me as I walked along." This tends to mean the same as "while".

So, there are a lot of different combinations of tenses and conjunctions to choose from depending on your emphasis. If you have a specific question that I haven't answered, please ask again (with a question).

 

[tbentsen77]

I'll assume you want to know about the difference between the simple past and the past progressive in sentences where two things happen at the same time.

Exactly! Correctly assumed! Thank you very much for your detailed answer. I got what I wanted