I tried to use examples that were not in the imperfect, but which still worked. Or am I getting my vocabulary wrong? I get confused by not having the words for this stuff. There is definitely a duration thing there, but is it a matter of tense? I think you can use 'as' in the perfect tense, where two actions go on for a reasonable time (he talked as we walked down the street). And you can also use it with two quick actions (he cried out as he sat down). But it seemed to me that it's when a short and a long action are mixed that you need to get into the imperfect, at least for one of them (He was crying as he sat down).
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Date: 2009-08-12 07:27 am (UTC)There is definitely a duration thing there, but is it a matter of tense?
I think you can use 'as' in the perfect tense, where two actions go on for a reasonable time (he talked as we walked down the street). And you can also use it with two quick actions (he cried out as he sat down).
But it seemed to me that it's when a short and a long action are mixed that you need to get into the imperfect, at least for one of them (He was crying as he sat down).