When + verb with "ing"

Question

When do I need to use the structure: When + verb with "ing"?

When working in the laboratory he noticed that. That sentece is in past, is it correct

I need to know in which tenses(present, past, etc) I can use that structure (When + verb with "ing"). Thanks.

Answer 1

Hola Karl,

Bienvenido al foro SpanishDict

todo lo que has escrito es perfecta, (aunque no es una frase completa)

When working in the laboratory he noticed that ...

.....all the other students were wearing protective glasses.

......all the chemicals were safely stored away in locked cupboards.

Puedes usar esta misma construcción gramátical en Inglés en las siguientes situaciones:

con el tiempo verbal presente indicativo para dar instrucciones y / o ordenes:

Present: When working in noisy environments please always remember to wear the protective headphones provided!

Puedes usar esta misma construccion en el toemp verbal: condicional para indicar las cosas que hay que hacer:

When cleaning the floor you should always read the instructions of any cleaning matrial very carefully before using them! .

Puedes usarla con el preterito de indicativo (simple past), como tu has hecho en tu ejemplo que ya he mencionado al principio.

When driving his car he noticed that the brakes needed replacing.

Espero que tu sirva bien

Thanks, great explanation. Just a correction about spanish grammar: "el tiempo presente del modo indicativo" isn´t used for commands. For commands "el modo imperativo" is used. :) - karl180, Apr 10, 2015

Thank you , Karl I realize that in Spanish my fr - FELIZ77, Apr 10, 2015

friend , I was talking about the English language we use the present indicative to express commands ;) :) - FELIZ77, Apr 10, 2015

I was simply explaining it it in Spanish because Your profile says your level of English is beginner but uou seem to be at least an advanced beginner A 2 from what I can tell :) - FELIZ77, Apr 10, 2015

typo: 'you' seem - FELIZ77, Apr 10, 2015

Answer 2

It can be used in several tenses. Your example is in the past tense.

Present (ongoing) - "When working in the lab, he always wears glasses."

Future imperative - "When working in the lab, always wear glasses."

Future - "When working in the lab, I will wear glasses."

Past (ongoing) - "When working in the lab, he always wore glasses."

It really would not work in the present - "When working in the lab, I am wearing my glasses." Doesn't sound right.

I will add that in almost every case, that clause can be rephrased if you don't like the way it sounds or if it is not quite what you want to express.

I would say not the present progressive, but yes in simple present indicative: When working in the lab, I wear my glasses. - bosquederoble, Apr 9, 2015

Thanks, great explanation. I just wanted to know in which tenses I can use that structure. - karl180, Apr 10, 2015

Agreed, Bosq. I just put the examples I could think of, and I'm not good on the names of these tenses. - Winkfish, Apr 10, 2015

Answer 3

Welcome to SD

Click here for el presente progresivo en ingles

I am working - present.

I was working - past

I will be working - future.

I think the question was more temporal clause plus gerund: http://www.grammar-quizzes.com/8-12.html - bosquederoble, Apr 9, 2015

I can't answer though because my knowledge of English grammar, unlike Spanish, is all what sound okay and what doesn't. I don't know any rules. - bosquederoble, Apr 9, 2015

Sounds okay. typo. :) - bosquederoble, Apr 9, 2015

Actually it wasn't my question, but thanks anyway. - karl180, Apr 10, 2015

Answer 4

Lo siento ...lo he escrito doble ( dos veces)