The status of "while"

[Belles1654]

I think I put my foot in it today. I said that you could say,
While I was in Washington, I visited Sara.

A student said that while is used only in the progressive state. I didn't think you could make the blanket statement that while is always used in the continuous state and only in the continuous state, like

While I was visiting Washington, I visited Sara. or
While I was reading the paper, Sara was dancing.

Can "while" only be used in a progressive state or can it be used also with the simple past.

Thanks in advance
Belles

[Alan]

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Hi Belles,

'While' often precedes this sense of a continuous action but is not necessarily restricted to being used with the continuous form of a verb. Note the famous sentence: Nero fiddled (played the fiddle) while Rome burned. In that sentence the two actions take place at the same time.

It should also be noted that 'while' is often used to make a contrast and also indicate that two actions take place at the same time as in:

The parents sat on the beach while the children went for a swim in the sea.

Alan
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