WHILE vs DURING | What's the difference between During / While / Throughout / As / Meanwhile?

what's the difference between while and during we're going to find out together today hello and welcome to English speaking 360 today we're going to compare confusing words these words right here we use during and throughout when we are talking about one action within a time frame like you can see in the diagram on the other hand we use while as and meanwhile for two actions Tak taking place at the same time but don't worry I'm going to explain this very well in the video here's a short quiz to test your knowledge right or wrong I

talked to her during she was working I stayed inside throughout it was raining Jane smiled while watching the movie I sang as walking to the park he drove meanwhile it was raining you're going to get the answers in the video of course let's start with the easiest one during now the first thing you have to know is that there are two ways to pronounce it you can say during during or like I say it during during J during is always followed by a noun or a noun phrase for example I'm going to go camping during

the summer the summer summer is your noun so juring is followed by a noun the summer is a noun phrase there is no verb after juring it refers to an action happening within a time frame or an event here's the diagram to help you understand I'm going to go camping is your action and the time frame is the summer the summer is a Time June July and August here's another example she cried during her friend's wedding her friend's wedding wedding is your noun here and her friend's wedding is a noun phrase so it's the same

thing here she cried during her friend's wedding let's take a second look at our short quiz I talked to her during she was working is it right or is it wrong if you say it's wrong you are right because juring is always followed by a noun and here you have a clause she was working was working is a verb and you cannot have a verb after juring juring has a brother throughout throughout is always followed by a noun or noun phrase also so here's an example it rained throughout the night in this sentence night is

the night noun the KN is the noun phrase it refers to a repeated or non-stop action now this is different from during throughout is a repeated or non-stop action here's the diagram here's your action it rained it rained and it rained and it rained and it rained a repeated action throughout the night so the night is your time or it could also be a Nonstop Action it started raining at 7 p.m. at the same time as the night started or 8:00 p.m. and it kept on raining nonstop until the morning so it rained throughout the

night so we use throughout when we really want to focus on the action happening nonstop or repeated many times during a certain time or during a certain event here's another example the theme song was played throughout the festival so imagine you go to a Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan and during the festival there is a theme song the theme song of the festival with cute anime characters and that song is played over and over and over again throughout the festival let's take another look at our short short quiz I stayed inside throughout it was raining

is it right or is it wrong once again it is wrong because throughout is always followed by a noun and here it was raining is a clause there is a verb here so it's not a noun it doesn't work now let's recap during and throughout are both followed by noun or noun phrases okay I'm going to go camping during the summer at some point during the summer I'm going to go camping whereas throughout it rained throughout the night it shows that it's something that is happening continuously over the entire period we're doing well next while

while is followed by a clause not a noun a clause is a subject plus a verb for example I worked on the report While You Were Sleeping okay you were sleeping is a clause you is the subject were sleeping the verb so you were sleeping is your Clause we use while when we want to emphasize two actions happening at the same time I worked on the report While You Were Sleeping happening at the same time here's here's the diagram to help you I worked on the report Action one while you were sleeping action two but

be careful here because while can also be followed by a present participle an ing verb here's an example I hurt my knee while playing soccer in this case playing ing is your present participle so here's the diagram I hurt my knee while I was playing soccer so the long action was playing soccer and hurting my knee is action number one but hurting my knee is a short action whereas playing soccer was a long action now in the previous example I worked on the report While You Were Sleeping action one was a long action and action

two was is also a long action but in the second example you have a short action happening during a longer action now you should get this one right Jane smiled while watching the movie right or wrong this one is right while is followed by a clause or an ing verb right here while watching the movie while has a twin the twin is as as is also followed by a clause so here's an example he listened to music as he worked on his project okay he worked on his project is your Clause it emphasizes two actions

happening at the same time same as while here's the diagram so he listened to music as he worked on his project to two simultaneous actions but it could also be this she entered the bathroom as I was taking a shower for this one the diagram is a little bit different action one she entered the bathroom it's a short action as I was taking a shower action two is the long action be careful though because as is never followed by an ing verb a present participle it does not work you cannot say she entered the bathroom

as taking a shower that doesn't work it can be followed by an ing Clause a clause with an ing verb a past Progressive for example was taken that's okay but a present participle does not work this is an easy one I sang as well walking to the park right or wrong I just explained it to you so this one is wrong because as is followed by a clause Never by an ing verb here I sang as I was walking to the park would be a good sentence it would be right but I sang as walking

it does not work now let's recap why and as are both used for simultaneous actions actions happening at the same time for example I worked on the report while you were sleeping he listened to music as he worked on his project be careful here because with while you can use the present participle but with as you cannot use the present participle that is the difference last but not least meanwhile now meanwhile is a slightly formal word so we don't use it very much you will see it very often in writing so the reason why I'm

giving it to you here is that this word is used very often in tests like the toic test or the TOEFL test or the I test so that's why it's important to know it meanwhile is used at the beginning of a sentence so you need two separate sentences two actions happening at the same time and the two actions are usually done in different places or by different people here's an example she went grocery shopping meanwhile I cleaned the house H that's a strange way to clean the house but I mean whatever floats your boat so

here's your diagram she went grocery shopping meanwhile I I cleaned the house action one and action two happening at the same time but two separate sentences because they are done in different places and they're also done by different people here's a second example they were arguing meanwhile the baby was sleeping peacefully two actions happening at the same time two sentences done in different places or in could be in the same place but they are done by different people last question he drove meanwhile it was raining this one is an easy one what do you say

of course this one is totally wrong because meanwhile requires two sentences in this case it's in the same sentence it does not work here's the full summary for you juring and throughout are very very similar but juring is at some point whereas throughout is continuously both of them are followed by the Same by a noun he took notes during the meeting he took notes throughout the meeting now do you see the difference he took notes during the meeting at some point during the meeting he took notes but he took notes throughout the meeting you really

want to emphase ize that the guy was on the ball he had his pen on fire because he was taking notes throughout the meeting from the very beginning until the very end while and as are also similar they are used for simultaneous actions Clause plus present participle but as is followed by a clause I prepare dinner while listening to music that is your present participle the ing form I prepared dinner as I listened to music so with as you cannot have an ing so you cannot say I prepared dinner as listening to music it does

not work meanwhile at the same time different places different people two separate sentences so it starts a new sentence we were stuck in traffic meanwhile the train arrived at the station we were stuck in traffic on the road and meanwhile at the station the train arrived it's quiz time now test yourself we'll see if you're really good he fell asleep the movie here are your choices think about it carefully the movie movie is a noun the movie is a noun phrase you ready he fell asleep during the movie during is at some point during a

specific event in this case a movie is an event a movie could also be a length of time question two the guy in the a seat slept the flight so I couldn't go to the bathroom oh my God this is torture look at the guy he's just staring at the ceiling and he's like I want to go to the bathroom I want to go to the bathroom but he could go because the guy in the aisle seat was sleeping so which word would you put there so remember here the flight is a noun so that's

going to help you a lot the guy in the a seat slept throughout the flight so I couldn't go to the bathroom the guy slept throughout the flight so the sleeping action was taking place from the very beginning until the very end of the flight so that's why he couldn't go to the bathroom question three my co-workers were working hard I was relaxing on a beach make your choice this one should be easy because you have two sentences meanwhile of course my co-workers were working hard meanwhile I was relaxing on a beach action one action

two taking place at the same time but two different sentences question four we chatted waiting for the bus think about it we chatted while waiting for the bus so two actions happening at the same time but waiting is a present participle so you cannot use as we chatted as waiting for the bus doesn't work question five she smiled she read the letter she smiled as she read the letter or she smiled while she read the letter in this case two actions happening at the same time she read the letter is a clause so you can

use as or you can use while question six we could see lightning the night all right think about your answer the night is a noun we could see lightning during the night or we could see lightning throughout the night both of them are right it depends on what you mean during means that at some point during the night there was lightning whereas throughout means that there was a lot of lightning from the beginning of the night until the end of the night throughout the night there was a lot of lightning in the sky question seven

someone called for you you were out so you see the little lady is answering the phone sorry he just stepped out so he's not at the office right now what word would you put in the blank someone called you while you were out while is the right answer because it's a short action someone called you while you were out but watch out here because be out is a state and that's why you can only use while if it wasn't a state then you could use as someone called for you as you were getting into the

elevator that would work but in this case be out is a state so you must use while question eight I worked at a cafe the summer vacation think about it I worked at a cafe during the summer vacation which makes sense it's a shorter action probably not during the whole summer vacation so at some point during the summer vacation I worked at a cafe in this case the summer vacation is a noun phrase so that's why you have to use juring you could also say throughout but then the diagram would be different in this case

the working at the cafe action would last the whole summer vacation so if you really want to say that you worked from the very beginning of the summer vacation until the very end of the summer vacation you could say throughout the summer vacation but to be honest during sounds more natural I worked at a cafe during the summer vacation great hey do you need more practice on this if you do go to my website because you can see the video one more time with explanations in writing so you can copy them if you want and

you're going to get extra activities to help you practice and that is so important thanks for watching guys see you next time bye-bye okay