The Difference: When vs. While

When & While: The Short Answer

In some sentences, you can use either without a great change in meaning. Generally, if you want to focus on an action that has a duration being in progress, use a while + a progressive tense.

While I was washing the dishes, my wife came home.* (Washing the dishes has a duration, e.g. 4 minutes.)

(*Note you can also use when here, but as a general rule, while is suitable.)

In other cases when you don’t need to emphasize that an action was in progress or the action is short and without a significant duration, use when and a simple tense.

When it started to rain, we went inside. (The action started is short; it is not something in progress).

Tip #1: Use a Progressive (Continuous) Tense with While to Show Focus

Progressive tenses use the BE verb + a verb in ~ing form.

While I was cooking dinner, the phone rang.

I will be sleeping at 11:00 p.m. tonight, so don’t phone me.

We use while to focus on an action happening at a specific time. Therefore, the most natural verb tense to use is a progressive tense, which shows that an action is in progress at a certain time.

It is common to use while with actions happening at a specific time (e.g. at 11 p.m.). Also, we use while to show that a shorter action (usually in the past simple, e.g. the phone rang) happened during as a longer action (usually in past progressive, e.g. I was cooking dinner). Often this shorter action interrupts the longer action.

Tip #2: Use While with Actions that have a Limited Duration

1. When I was a child, I played soccer. (Correct)
2. While I was a child, I played soccer. (Not natural)

Why is #2 not natural? Well, when an action is too long (e.g. I was a child), we lose focus. The period of twelve years when you were a child is too long to use a progressive tense. We don’t use ‘while’ to talk about long periods of our lives. Instead, we use when and past simple. There’s another reason.

Tip #3: Use While with Action Verbs

Also, “While I was a child” is unnatural because the BE verb (was a child) is a state verb. State verbs are not action verbs (e.g. jump, kick, shower, drink). Instead, state verbs describe states or conditions (e.g. BE, live, understand, know, exist). We do not use progressive tenses with state verbs. As a result, we generally don’t use while with state verbs.

Compare:

While she was driving, I played with the radio. (Natural)

This is correct. Driving is an action verb and the action is limited in duration. In other words, driving is a short activity that has a clear start and end.

While When I lived in my hometown, my mother made me dinner. (While is not natural)

Live is a state verb, and also, the action of living in my hometown probably had a duration of 18 years. This is too long to focus on.

Exception: Focusing on an Verb in Progress

You could use while with a state verb like ‘live’ if you really want to focus on the fact that an action was in progress at a specific time. For example:

While I was living in India, there was a big earthquake.

Although it would probably be more common to use When I lived in India, this sentence is correct. The speaker chooses to use ‘While’ + present progressive’ to focus on an action being in progress (living) when another action happened.

Remember: While Means an Action Had a Start and an End (a Duration)

If a sentence uses while, it suggests that the action happened over a period of time. Here’s are two better examples to show what I mean:

When the phone rang, I was making lunch.