Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jajdude]

The word "while" was used in an exercise in class.

Exs:

I lost my wallet while jogging through the park.

I cut myself while shaving.

It seems the word is not necessary in many sentences, like those two above, but if it said, "while I was...-ing" then it is necessary.

Sometimes I think it is OK to omit it in spoken language but perhaps include it in written.

Don't know any rules on it though. It just occurred to me earlier.

[marista99]

Yeah it's one of those things that we leave out in casual speech, but it's really incorrect to leave it out. On the other hand, I think "Jogging through the park, I lost my wallet." might actually be correct, but maybe not.

Also interesting is that a Brit would say "whilst" instead of "while"....but that always sounded very pompous to me

[Glad-4-Vlad]

[Demophobe]

You can omit the subordinating conjunction (while) with simultaneous actions.

Ex:
While climbing Halla mountain, I saw several hikers.
Climbing Halla mountain, I saw several hikers.

Only sentences in which the subjects of both clauses are the same maybe be reduced.
Ex:
While I was eating corn on the cob, my tooth fell out.

This adverb clause cannot be reduced (omission of "while") because the subject of the adverb clause is not the same as the subject of the main clause.

If the subject of the adverb clause and the main clause are the same, the adverb clause may be reduced. There are numerous types of reduction which may take place in these clauses, but for this discussion...

[mog]

Most relative clauses can reduce to participial phrases. This was actually what my high school class did last night.

The participial phrase takes the form of an adjective, so there does have to be the noun that it modifies.

[Wangja]

A good thread this: I was especially taken with one poster's view of the supposedly pompous word "whilst", in current use amongst many (and although especially British not exclusively so). While I might agree to the extent that one "cannot whilst away the time", I missen rather like the word.