use of "when"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Teachers
Please take a look at the following two sentence.

John is checking out at the counter when he decides to take a shit.

When John is checking out at the counter, he decides to take a shit.

Which sentence is correct in grammar? If the both are correct in grammar, do they convey the same meaning"

2

It sounds as if he defecated at the counter!

I suggest:
John was at the check out counter when he realised he needed to go to the toilet.

3

Further to Beeesneees’ answer, you should be aware that “shit” is a coarse and vulgar word. You need to be careful with it as inappropriate use may cause offence or embarrassment.

4

Is it possible to omit the apostrophe of the Saxon genitive in that case, and so just say “Beeesneees answer”?

Thanks once again.

5

No. The possessive form is needed, but comntrary to some belief there’s nothing wrong with using an apostrophe plus an -s there: Beeesneees’s answer.

6

Hi dear Bev,

Then why “Champions League”? uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/index.html

7

Apostrophes in proper names, such as company names, brand names, etc., are increasingly seen as fussy and unnecessary by the people who devise such things. Most English speakers do not understand how to use apostrophes anyway, so they don’t care. Even if there was officially an apostrophe in “Champions League”, many people would probably omit it, or put it in the wrong place.

Some people claim that apostrophe-less compounds like “Champions League” can be justified with “Champions” as an attributive noun, but in my opinion this explanation is dubious, as can be demonstrated by noting the unnaturalness of analogous compounds with irregular plurals, such as “Women League” or “Children League”, for example.

8

Hi Dozy,

Thanks a lot for your exhaustive explanation.

Take care.

9

A: He was eating his breakfast when the phone rang.
B: The phone rang when he was eating his breakfast.

Do the 2 statemtens mean exactly the same? If different, how?

Thanks.

10

Beeesneees,
Can I say as below:

  1. When John was at the check out counter, he felt to go to the toilet.
  2. When John was at the check out counter, he felt the need of going to the toilet.
    Are they natural to the natives’ ear?
11

Sorry for the use of the word of “sh*t”. I will be more careful about use of word in my future post.
No offense, I only mean to offer question about the usage of the word ”when”. Could you please to give the answer to following questions?

When I am going to say that “John found a wallet in the road during the time he was on his way to town.” Which one of the following sentence can I use? If the both sentence are correct in grammar, is the problem in emphasis?

  1. When John was on his way to town, he found a wallet in the road.
  2. John was on his way to town when he found a wallet in the road.
12

Both sentences are correct. The first emphasises where John was, the second emphasises what John was doing.

13

Beez, your answer is humorous and got the point