the tenses in 'when' clause and its main clause

[shabushabu]

Hi, I'm always confused with the tenses in 'when' clause and its main clause.

(1) When you called, I was eating dinner.

(2) When I was eating dinner, you called.

Are sentence(1) and sentence(2) the same? When should I use a progressive tense or a simple tense?

Many thanks

 

[SlickVic9000]

(Not a Teacher)

They mean the same thing. Since you had not finished eating before you were called, "eat" should be in the past continuous tense. "Call" is a complete action here, so it is simple past tense.

 

[bhaisahab]

I find #2 unnatural.

 

[emsr2d2]

I find #2 unnatural.

So do I. I would say:

1. When you called, I was eating dinner.
2. While I was eating dinner, you called.

 

[shabushabu]

Thanks for all your replies. But what makes me confused is there's no such 'problem' in my own language. For me, #1 and #2 are the same.

However, I read this from a book: "We can use as, when or while to introduce a longer background action or situation, which is/was going on when something else happens/happened. " And, it gave some examples:

The telephone always rings when you are having a bath.
While they were playing cards, somebody broke into the house.
As I was walking down the street, I saw Joe driving a Porshe.

So, #2 still doesn't work?

Many thanks