Tense Issue

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Tense Issue

by Mission2012 » Mon Sep 10, 2012 10:01 am
Hi,

Which one is correct -

1> When he swam across the ocean, he struggled to keep his head over the water.

2> When he was swimming across the ocean,he struggled to keep his head over the water.

Thanks
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by Jim@StratusPrep » Tue Sep 11, 2012 5:15 am
1 - parallel structure with the verbs.
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by Mission2012 » Tue Sep 11, 2012 7:54 am
Hi Jim,

Some more queries -

a> How can one construct a sentence in which -

1> Action 1 is taking place in past in background (in this case swimming)
2> Action 2 takes place in the past.

b> For parallel structure should the verbs be in same tense?
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by confuse mind » Tue Sep 11, 2012 8:23 am
Jim@StratusPrep wrote:1 - parallel structure with the verbs.
To Jim's reply I would add:

Since 'when' already indicates continuity in the sentence, you need not use continuous tense to indicate the same.

Am I right Jim?