wallet

[Polyester]

Is the following sentence correct and natural?


When I paid the bill at convenience store, I can't find my wallet.

 

[tedmc]

Rethink the use of article and mixing of tenses.

 

[Tarheel]

If you couldn't find your wallet, how could you pay your bill?

 

[Polyester]

While I pay the bill at convenience store, I can't find my wallet in my bag.


Is it correct now?

 

[GoesStation]

No. You can't pay your bill if you don't have your wallet. You tried to pay your bill but you weren't able to. This happened in the past, so you need a past tense.

 

[Polyester]

While I paid the bill at convenience store, I couldn't find my wallet in my bag.

Is it possible now?

 

[GoesStation]

While I paid the bill at convenience store, I couldn't find my wallet in my bag.

Is it possible now?

You didn't pay the bill because you didn't have your wallet. As I told you above, you tried to pay your bill.

While won't work here. Use when.

 

[Polyester]

In my dictionary, "while" = "when" , what's wrong?

I couldn't find my wallet in my bag, when I did pay the bill at convenience store.

Is it perfect now?

 

[J&K Tutoring]

You're still not getting it.

We "pay a bill" when someone provides goods or services in advance and we pay after receiving them. When we pay an electric bill we are paying for the electricity we used last month. When we pay a restaurant bill, we are paying for food we have already eaten.

At a convenience store (and most other retail stores), we gather things ourselves from shelves and we take them to a counter where a worker rings them up. Then we pay. As GoesStation pointed out, your situation happened in the past, so past-tense verbs should be used:

When I went to pay at the convenience store, I couldn't find my wallet.

 

[emsr2d2]

I couldn't find my wallet in my bag, when I did pay the bill at convenience store.

You are still missing the point. If you couldn't find your wallet then you couldn't pay the bill. If you start by saying you couldn't find your wallet you can't continue the sentence saying that you paid/did pay your bill. The point is that if you didn't have your wallet then you didn't pay your bill.

There are two possibilities:
1) When I got to the till to pay for my goods, I couldn't find my wallet. I searched everywhere but to no avail. I had either left it at home or lost it - I wasn't sure which. I had to leave my goods behind and go home.
2) When I got to the till to pay for my goods, I couldn't find my wallet at first. While the cashier added up the total, I searched all my pockets and bags and, to my relief, finally found my wallet at the bottom of a bag. I paid my bill and took my goods home.

 

[GoesStation]

I couldn't find my wallet in my bag, when I did pay the bill at convenience store.

Is it [STRIKE]perfect[/STRIKE] correct now?

You didn't pay the bill. You didn't have your wallet. You tried to pay it; you wanted to pay it. You didn't have any money, though, so you couldn't pay. Use one of the verbs I set in bold above.

Let's not worry about while versus when at this stage. Despite what you think your dictionary says, they are not the same.

At your current level, you should aim for sentences that don't contain serious errors. Perfection is nice, but correctness is sufficient.

 

[Polyester]

Hi GoesStation,

I get it. For this and next moment, i should pay attention in my sentences without serious error.

 

[tedmc]

Hi GoesStation,

I get it. For this and next moment, i should pay attention in my sentences without serious error.

From now on, I will be more careful with/pay more attention to my sentences to avoid (basic/major) errors.

 

[Tarheel]

Polyester, please forget about "For this and the next moment" (and the rest of that sentence). Instead, use Ted's alternative.

:up: