She said hello to me while she was running

Question

She said hello to me while she was running

She said hello to me while running

Are both of these expressions possible?. Thank you.

yes, they are! - Gocika, MAR 14, 2010

Nila, all of your sentences are wonderful! I always appreciate your desire to learn more. - mountaingirl123, MAR 14, 2010

Answer 1

And what about these?

She said hello to me when she was going into the house

She said hello to me when going into the house

They are both acceptable, but as Ken says if you omit the subject pronoun you are making the sentence more ambiguous and open to possible misunderstanding.

Saying hello would be awkward, but if the sentences had said:

She took the package from me when she was going into the house

She took the package from me when going into the house

The 2nd sentence could mean that she took the package from me when we were going into the house together or as we were entering the house.

Removing the pronoun (of course) leaves the subject of the adverbial clause in doubt or open to supposition.

We love to imply these things from context, but it also sometimes leads to confusion. What usually results is, the persons assumes what is most probable, thinking that if you had meant anything less probable, then you would have included the necessary information. A dangerous assumption.

Answer 2

Hello Nila,

Yes, both expressions are correct.

"She said hello to me while she was running" indicates only that "she" was running.

"She said hello to me while running" could mean that others were running with her.

Really? - nila45, MAR 14, 2010

Answer 3

Hi Nila

They are both correct, although in England, we would probably say

"She said hello to me whilst running", if we weren't going to use "she was"

Sheila, I'm glad you specified England:) - Yeser007, MAR 14, 2010

Answer 4

She said hello to me when she was going into the house.

In this sentence you could replace the "when" with "as"

She said hello to me as she was going into the house.

She said hello to me when going into the house In this sentence you can not - but would probably say

She said hello to me while going into the house

Be careful though because "as" can also mean "because" in some contexts.

Answer 5

And what about these?

She said hello to me when she was going into the house

She said hello to me when going into the house

The second sentence doesn't sound right. You might say "She said hello to me while going into the house." I knew I should have left this question alone. ;-) - 00d7cd75, MAR 14, 2010

hahaha - I know the feeling Ken! - patch, MAR 14, 2010