Speaking English: WHILE or MEANWHILE?

Hello, my name is Emma, and in today's video, we are going to talk about the difference

between: "meanwhile" and "while". Okay? So, often times, these words are confused and

I will tell you when to use which. So, let's get started.

First of all, I have two sentences. The first sentence:

"I will do my homework while you watch TV." The second sentence:

"I went to a concert. Meanwhile, my friend was at a restaurant."

Okay, I want you to think for one second. Can you see any differences between these

sentences? I know they're different sentences, but try to think: what is the difference between:

"while" and "meanwhile"? Take a guess. Okay. So, let me explain some of the differences.

Both of these: "while", "meanwhile", both of them have a very similar meaning. You use

it when two things, two actions are happening during the same time, at the same time. Okay?

So when two things are happening usually at the same time. So, the difference is really

in how we construct the sentence. If you look at my chart here, I have: "while"

versus: "meanwhile", or: "meanwhile" versus: "while". One of the first differences I want

to point out is that "meanwhile" connects two sentences. So we have our first sentence:

"I went to a concert. Meanwhile, my friend was at a restaurant." So: "meanwhile", you

always need two sentences; the actions are split up into two sentences.

Another thing that's important to know is that you can't have "meanwhile" here. "Meanwhile,

I went to a concert. My friend was at a restaurant." It doesn't work. It always has to be two actions,

and "meanwhile" goes between these two actions. So there's always a sentence about an action,

and then "meanwhile" with the second action. Okay, so it connects two sentences.

With "while", what do you notice? "I will do my homework while you watch TV." How many

sentences are there? If you said: "one", you are correct; this is just one whole sentence.

So, we still have two actions. The first action: "I will do my homework", second action: "you

watch TV", but it is all in one sentence; there is only one period, not two. So that's

a major difference between: "while" and: "meanwhile". Two sentences versus one sentence.

What's another difference? Let me jump here. Notice where "meanwhile" is located in the

sentence. It's at the beginning of the second sentence, like I mentioned. So you say the

first sentence, "meanwhile", second sentence. Whereas with "while", it can be at the beginning

or middle of a sentence. So, for example, I could say: "I will do my homework while

you watch TV." This is in the middle of a sentence. But I could change this sentence

to: "While you watch TV, I will do my homework." So you have a choice with this; it can be

here or here. I could say: "While I... While I do my homework, you can watch TV." So the

placement of "while" can change, "meanwhile", it can't change; it's stuck where it is. So

let's look at some more differences. So what are some other differences between:

"while" and "meanwhile"? Well, one of them you might have noticed is the comma. "Meanwhile"...

So I have some sentences... Some new sentences here. Actually, let me first tell you these

sentences. "Every day, I eat breakfast while reading

the newspaper." "While you sang, I took pictures of you."

"Mom worked all day. Meanwhile, I was at school." So what can you notice about commas? There

is a comma always after "meanwhile". Okay. So that's a difference. With "while", is there

a comma right after "while" like this? No. There's no comma there. Okay.

What is another difference? Well, "meanwhile" is followed by a subject. What's a subject?

"I", "you", "she", "he", "they", "we", "the dog", "the cat", these are all subjects. So

if we look at "meanwhile" - jump to this side -, so: "Mom worked all day. Meanwhile, I"...

"I" is a subject. So we have subject, and then the verb: "I was", "Meanwhile, she was",

"Meanwhile, he ate a sandwich", "Meanwhile, we went the mall." So you always need a subject

after "meanwhile". With "while", it's a little different. You

can have a subject, like for example: "While you sang, I took pictures." So here you have

your subject. But it's not always necessary. Often times, "while" is followed by a verb

with "ing". Here's an example: "Every day, I eat breakfast while reading the newspaper."

There's no subject, it's just I know that it's talking about "I", you don't have to

repeat the "I". So "while" can be followed by verb-"ing". I could also say: "While reading

the newspaper, I ate breakfast." Okay? So these are some more differences.

Okay, is there anything we missed? Nope. All right. So now let's do some practice questions

together to see and to make sure that you know the difference between: "while" and "meanwhile".

Okay, so let's look at our first sentence: "People were at home watching TV. __________

aliens were planning their invasion of the Earth."

Oo. So, what do you think it is? Do you think it's: "While aliens were planning their invasion

of the Earth", or: "Meanwhile, aliens were planning their invasion of the Earth"? Think

about it for a second. What clues do you have? Point out a clue: you have a period here.

Does that help? The answer is: "meanwhile" because we have two sentences. And what comes

after "meanwhile"? Comma. Good. Okay. Next question:

"__________ I was waiting for Jeremy, I heard a loud noise."

Is it: "Meanwhile, I was waiting for Jeremy, I heard a loud noise", or: "While I was waiting

for Jeremy, I heard a loud noise"? If you said: "meanwhile", you are incorrect. The

answer is: "while". So: "While I was waiting for Jeremy, I heard a loud noise." Why is

it "while"? "Meanwhile"... Okay, well first of all, how many sentences do you see? There's

only one sentence here. Okay? So that's point one, why we use "while". Secondly, "meanwhile"

is never at the beginning; it's between two sentences. In this case, "while" can be at

the beginning. Okay, one other thing I want to point out here: "While I was waiting for

Jeremy," if "while" is at the beginning of the sentence, after you do: "while", subject,

verb, object, comma before the next part. Let's check out question number three:

"I read a lot of books __________ I was on the airplane."

Okay, so what do you think it is? "Meanwhile" or "while"? If you said: "while", you are

correct. "I read a lot of books while I was on the airplane." How do we know it's "while"?

Well, again, how many sentences do you see? You see one sentence, therefore, we can tell

it's "while". So to practice more of these types of questions,

to practice the difference between: "while" and "meanwhile", I want to invite you to our

website: www.engvid.com. There will be a quiz and you can practice this more. Also, if you

would like to subscribe to my YouTube channel, come check it out. Until next time.