Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

     Maybe it is my non-native language sense, but I perceive answers
A) and D) as having different meanings. As you say, A) creates a sense
of simultaneity, while D) creates a sense of contrast. I perceive the
meaning of the sentence formed with D):

"They sing original and classical songs, while also performing songs by
modern artists like Enya."

as being equivalent to the meaning of:

"They sing original and classical songs, but also perform songs by
modern artists like Enya."

Grammars are models of language, and all models are approximations. As
far as the English that I, at least, speak is concerned, your model is
not a perfect fit at this point, and the detail therefore not
relevant.

To me, the sense of simultaneity in (A) is *too* strong for it to be a
sensible answer, absent further detail. It's the same simultaneity
that one might meet in, for example, "I shall now juggle five
chainsaws while playing this trumpet". It asks the reader to
understand that the choir performs multiple songs at one and the same
time (not unheard of, but improbable, and likely to have been more
explicitly stated, were it genuinely the intended meaning).

(D), by contrast, merely indicates the presence of songs in multiple
styles in the choir's active repertoire (a far more reasonable
interpretation, and one that you ascribe to (A)).

Whether or not (A) is an acceptable answer to the question facing the
OP and colleagues depends on the instructions given on how to answer
it (which we are not given). If they were asked to select a
grammatically valid answer, then I would have to concede that, yes,
(A) meets the criterion. If they were asked to select on other or less
specific grounds, though, then (A) is a poor answer because of its
likely error of meaning.

Cheers - Ian
(BrE: Yorks, Hants.)

I think that for me the sense of simultaneity in (A) is greater than
that.  I get a reading of "literally at the same time" (cf "played the
guitar while also keeping the beat on the bass drum"), so I would go
for (D) for what is probably meant.

I wouldn't put "which", with or without a comma.

I'm not keen on either of the others, either, as a bare comma (no
"while" at all) is quite sufficient. However, many would put (D).

I agree with your reaction, but this sort of construction is quite
common, and doesn't usually lead to any ambiguity.

Just put an apostrophe after "choirs" to make it possessive, and the
comparison is fixed without any change to the flow of the sentence.

¬R

As I already said in reply to Claude, my preferred answer would be E) ,

However, just a word about the (slight) ambiguity caused by omitting
the comma before "while". Those who are making an effort to
misunderstand could take "while" to indicate that they were doing the
two things simultaneously -- half of the choir singing original and
classical songs, the other half performing songs by Enya. Common sense
tells you that that is not what is meant, so omitting the comma doesn't
do much damage, and even including it doesn't entirely eliminate the
possibility of wilful misunderstanding.

On 09 May 2009,  wrote

Very often the two aspects are inseparable:  communication is
certainly primary, but in a lot of cases it's erroneous grammar
that destroys communication.

*Trivial* grammar rules, yes.  "Grammar" in general, though,
usually works hand-in-hand with communication:  it's not a zero-sum
choice.