Test

[Freeguy]

...... a teacher in the New England, Webster wrote the dictionary of the American Language.

1- It was while
2- When
3- When was
4- While

What's wrong with option 3?

 

[5jj]

There is no subject for the verb 'was'.

 

[bhaisahab]

The article before "New England" is wrong.

 

[Freeguy]

Would you please elaborate on this usage of WHILE here. It's a bit vague to me. I didn't see this kind of while at the first of the sentence.
thanks

 

[emsr2d2]

Would you please elaborate on this usage of WHILE here. It's a bit vague to me. I didn't see this kind of while at the first of the sentence.
Thanks.

Sentence 1 below gives a more standard word order, and then sentences 2 and 3 are versions using a different word order, like the one you gave.

1. Webster wrote the dictionary of the American language while he was a teacher in New England.
2. While he was a teacher in New England, Webster wrote the dictionary ...
3. While a teacher in New England, Webster wrote ...

As you can see, with this construction, it is possible to omit "he was" in sentence 3.

 

[Freeguy]

Just one question left. What's wrong with option 1? I know that it's definitely wrong. However I don't know the convincible reason.

 

[Rover_KE]

If the sentence begins 'It was while', it would have to continue '...he was a teacher in [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] New England that Webster wrote the dictionary of the American Language.

(I had to check that 'convincible' actually exists. However, it's very rarely used and is best avoided. 'Convincing' would be better.)