Jasmine, had to wear a uniform when she was at Chaminade.

[B45]

Chaminade is the school my daughter goes to. I say to my friend:

Jasmine, had to wear a uniform when she was at Chaminade.

She graduated a while back.


Is this correct?

 

[riquecohen]

Chaminade is the school my daughter

goes to.

went to/attended. I say to my friend:

Jasmine, had to wear a uniform

when

while she was at Chaminade.

She graduated a while back.


Is this correct?

Omit the comma.

 

[B45]

Omit the comma.

Jasmine had to wear a uniform while she was at Chaminade.

Why while rather than when?

 

[riquecohen]

I would use 'while,' as it refers to the period of time that she was there. 'When' is a more specific time.

 

[B45]

I would use 'while,' as it refers to the period of time that she was there. 'When' is a more specific time.

Which one would be better here:

I moved around a lot when/while I was growing up.

 

[riquecohen]

I would use 'while', though I'm sure that 'when' is frequently heard.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

I agree with, "while I was growing up" but not with, "while she was at Chaminade".

Even though in both cases there is a period of time involved I would definitely use "when" when talking about school.

I might say, "While I was at school there was a fire at my house." but I would always say "I had to wear a uniform when I was at school."

 

[MikeNewYork]

That's interesting. I would more likely say "When I was at school there was a fire at my house" and "I had to wear a uniform while I was at school."

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

Yes, that is interesting, but what I had in mind was, "On a particular occasion, while I was at school, this, that and the other happened."

Would you still use 'when' there?

 

[MikeNewYork]

I tend to use "when" for a specific time and "while" for a duration. The fire occurred at a point in time. The uniforms were worn daily over a period of time.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

I find it amazing how we are never on the same wavelength.

The fire occurred while I was at school. What on earth is the problem with that?

Wouldn't you say, "when I was a boy" either?

 

[emsr2d2]

For me:

My house caught fire while I was at school. (Specific event which happened during an event of longer duration.)
Teachers were much stricter when I was at school. (Regular occurrence during the entirety of my school life.)

 

[MikeNewYork]

I didn't say there was anything wrong. I just simply stated my preference.

 

[airry87]

Jasmine had to wear school uniform while she was at Chaminade.

 

[emsr2d2]

Welcome to the forum, airry87. :hi:

It's good that you've taken the time to go all the way back to a post from April to choose for your first response but you might want to concentrate on the more recent posts. The OP of this thread has probably moved on from this query.