Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2007

First, let me change "entered" to "opened".  I like that better.  I
think I can open a door, enter a room, or both, but I can't enter the
door.  Sorry, I probably changed my mind in midclause and didn't
complete the change.

You've made me think harder about why I would choose one over the
other.  Let's see if this makes sense:

Among it's other uses, "as" can mean:

"When" ("As I opened the door, the phone rang.")

"While" ("As I was watching TV, my house was burgled.")

"Because" ("As I am a a coward, I ran and hid.")

I would use "as" only when it's clear which of these it means.  When
more than one interpretation is possible, use "when", "while", or
"because".

In your sentence, I'm not sure what comes after the clause, so I
suggest "when" for safety (assuming you would want "as" to be "when"
rather than "because").

Yes.

I hope this helps.

Bill

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It's how we use verb forms to put things in order or to contrast them
against other happenings.

A clause with "when", if there is a Simple verb in the other clause,
introduces the action/activity/event that happened first:
-- "I crossed the road when the bus hit me,"
means that being hit by the bus caused me to cross the road; but if the verb
in the other clause is continuous, it means that the action followed by
"when" either interrupts or is concurrent with the continuous
action/activity/event:
-- "I was crossing the road when the bus hit me,"
means that the bus interrupted the action of crossing the road.

"As" can be used to introduce the clause with the continuous action/(etc.):
-- "As I was crossing the road, the bus hit me".

Therefore, "as Oskar was being asked ~~" is fine, as long as it is used in a
sentence where there the action of asking is shown as being interrupted by,
or concurrent with, another action/(etc.).

If it is simply a matter of one thing happening after another, then the
"when" clause happens first:
-- "When Oskar was asked ~~, [something happened after the asking],"

So, "When asked ~~, he replied ~~" uses "when" simply to show that he was
asked before he replied.

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