225. Simultaneous Occurrence

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English has numerous ways of associating separate events & situations with the same time

SIMULTANEITY IN ENGLISH

Saying that an action or state is simultaneous with another one, rather than earlier or later, is a common need in professional writing (see, for example, 210. Process Descriptions). Of course, some advice about it is usually provided by elementary language courses. However, like numerous other basic meanings, it can be expressed in English in many more ways than just those described at elementary level.

I wish here to explore this variety in detail. My aim is not just to unearth vocabulary and grammar that might be new to at least some readers, but also to provide ideas for more effective paraphrasing and more sophisticated general writing.

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TYPES OF SIMULTANEITY

It is possible for a simultaneity statement to mention more than two actions and/or states, but for simplicity mentions of only two will be considered here. These might be two actions, two states, or an action and a state. They might have equal duration, starting and ending together, or one longer than the other:

(a) (ACTION-ACTION) The war ended when the clock struck one.

(b) (STATE-STATE) Snow covers the ground. Many trees have no leaves.

(c) (STATE-ACTION) Snow lay on the ground. A lone wolf howled.

All of these can reverse their order. For more examples of state verbs, see 66. Types of Passive Verb Meaning.

There are two types of action: brief, like ended and struck in (a), and extended. Extension may be through repetition, e.g. BREATHE, HAMMER, TICK and TYPE, or just through taking a long time, e.g. BUILD and GROW. Most verb actions can alternate between brief and extended. For example, ends can be extended as well as brief, and howls can be multiple as well as single. Even the action of verbs like GROW, which most would consider extended, can become brief if compared to a long time period.

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WAYS OF SHOWING SIMULTANEITY

Simultaneity does not always need special language to be understood. It usually seems to be recognizable without it if at least one of two closely-linked verbs inherently represents a state or extended action. This is the case, for example, in sentences (b) and (c) above, which respectively have the clear state-describing verbs covers and lay. Simultaneity is understood regardless of whether or not the other verb in these sentences inherently describes a state, regardless of which verb is mentioned first, and regardless of the presence or absence of any special simultaneity language.

The need for simultaneity language arises when two closely-linked verbs either definitely or possibly represent two brief actions. This is because such verbs without this language represent a sequence rather than simultaneity. In sentence (a), both ended and struck definitely represent brief actions, and when is added to show their simultaneity. In the following, the absence of a context causes uncertainty about whether blew represents a brief or extended action, leading to uncertainty about simultaneity and hence a need for simultaneity language:

(d) The wind blew. The clock struck one.

Simultaneity language includes the following.

1. Continuous Verb Tenses

The BE -ing verb form typically indicates states and extended actions. This means it cannot show simultaneity of two brief actions like those in sentence (a). I would argue that it is also not the main simultaneity indicator with verbs that inherently represent a state or extended action, like covers in (b). This is because, as mentioned above, they already indicate simultaneity through their very meaning. They can often be put into a continuous tense – is covering in (b) – but this tense would just highlight or emphasise the simultaneity.

Note, though, that this use of continuous tenses is not always an option: have in (b), for example, could not become *are having because HAVE meaning “possess” is one of those verbs that rarely allows a continuous tense anywhere.

Where continuous tenses are useful for showing simultaneity is with verbs like HOWL and BLOW when absence of simultaneity language would leave their meaning unclear. Thus, replacing blew in (d) with was blowing would make it clear that the two sentences were expressing simultaneous rather than successive events.

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2. Conjunctions

In sentence (a), the added simultaneity-showing word when is a conjunction. It is hardly surprising that simultaneity indicators include conjunctions, given the association of both with verb pairs.

When can show simultaneity when positioned either before or between the two verbs that it links. In the latter case, it sometimes creates a double meaning (see 301. Structures with a Double Meaning 5, #6).

A problem with using when to mark two brief actions as simultaneous, as in (a), is that it can also mark them as a sequence where it means “after” (see 171. Aspects of the Past Perfect Tense):

(e) Prices typically rise when demand increases.

Fortunately, the context or logical reasoning usually ensures that the correct meaning of when is understood. Moreover, the “after” meaning can be made clearer by changing the tense of the verb after when to one with HAVE – has increased in (e) – and/or replacing when with after.

When can alternatively combine with an extended action or a state to show simultaneity:

(f) When Hannibal crossed the Alps, his elephants died.

Here, crossed is an extended action during which the brief one died occurs. When could also occupy the middle of the sentence, becoming associated with died (though probably with crossed changed to was crossing). In the following example, when shows simultaneity of an extended action and an equally long state. One could precede, or even replace, when with the whole time for emphasis:

(g) When Hannibal was crossing the Alps, he wanted to surprise Rome.

Other major simultaneity conjunctions are while and as. Their following verb always expresses a state or extended action. Either could replace when at the start of (f) and (g), though in (g) the meaning would change, giving the understanding that Hannibal’s desire to surprise Rome existed only during his Alps journey – not before or after. In other words, while and as events limit the time taken by the main action or event in their sentence (wanted above) to their own duration, whereas when events do not. While means “when and only when”.

As resembles while in not being usable with a brief action or one lasting longer than the action or state of the main sentence verb. However, its verb can only represent an extended action – not a state. Consider these:

(h) As vocabulary expands, conversation becomes easier.

(i) The young ones lay around their mother as she slept.

In both cases, the as action passes through time in parallel with the main action or state. There is also a suggestion of a close link – often causal – with it: conversation is facilitated by the expansion of vocabulary; the resting of the young ones is a response to the sleeping of their mother. I take slept to be more an action than a state because the latter is more clearly expressed with the adjective expression was asleep (see 66. Types of Passive Verb Meaning) – and was asleep requires while, not as.

For another use of when in this blog, see 271. Tricky Grammar Contrasts 3, #4. For other uses of as, see 53. “As”, “Like” and “Such As”,  92. Complement-Showing “As”,  104. Naming Data Sources with “As” and 183. Statements between Commas.

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3. Connectors/Adverbs

The meanings of simultaneity conjunctions are equally expressible with adverb-like expressions acting as connectors, which require the two verbs to be in separate sentences (the connector in the second) so that they have equal focus (see 40. Conjunctions versus Connectors). There are numerous simultaneity connectors, reflecting the variety of simultaneity types identified above. Most are phrasal (see 259. Multi-Word Connectors):

BRIEF-BRIEF: at the same time, at that moment, simultaneously

EXTENDED-EXTENDED: all along, all the while, at the same time, concurrently, during this time, in the meantime, meanwhile, simultaneously, then, the whole (of the) time, throughout (this time) (see 258. Saying How Long Something Lasts, #1 and #4).

Note how then indicates later time with brief events, and a simultaneous one otherwise (see 282. Features of History Writing, #8).

EXTENDED-BRIEF: during this time / period, at one (or some) point, in the process

BRIEF-EXTENDED: at that moment, at this time, then, this is (or was) while/during…

The following illustrate these latter two categories:

(j) (EXTENDED-BRIEF) The Great Depression lasted 10 years. At one point, US unemployment reached 25%.

(k) (BRIEF-EXTENDED) A sudden change occurred. At that moment, the liquid was boiling.

Neither of these, however, allows in the process, which needs both verbs to have the same subject:

(l) The Great Depression lasted about 10 years. In the process, it raised US unemployment to 25%.

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4. Prepositions

Prepositions, like conjunctions, accompany an event or situation that is not the focus of their sentence (see 37. Subordination). In addition, they need it expressed with a noun, not a verb:

(m) A sudden change occurred during the boil.

If the event or situation after a simultaneity preposition was the focus of the previous sentence, its repetition with the preposition is a kind of connector synonym.

Various prepositions can express simultaneity. Different ones are necessary according to whether they introduce a brief (B) or extended (E) event / situation, and also which of these possibilities the sentence’s verb expresses. The main options are:

B (verb = B): at the time of, alongside, along with

B (verb = E): with

E (verb = B): during, in

E (verb = E): during, in, alongside, throughout, with

A simultaneity-showing with phrase usually goes at the end of its sentence (see 88. Exotic Grammar Structures, #7), as in this paraphrase of sentence (j):

(n) The Great Depression lasted 10 years, with US unemployment peaking at 25%.

A with phrase expressing an extended simultaneous period here could be …with people suffering greatly.

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5. Verbs

English conjunction meanings can surprisingly often be expressed with a verb instead. Sometimes the verb is a conjunction synonym, with a subject and object corresponding to the partner verbs of the conjunction (see 131. Uses of “Action” Nouns, #1), e.g.:

(o) Hannibal’s passage across the Alps COINCIDED WITH the death of his elephants.

(p) The Great Depression SAW 25% unemployment to the USA.

Other verbs like this include ACCOMPANY, CO-OCCUR WITH, INVOLVE, PARALLEL and BE SIMULTANEOUS / CONCURRENT WITH.

The participle form of ordinary verbs (excepting brief-action ones) also expresses simultaneity:

(q) The disease spread widely, inflicting much suffering.

For a full overview, see 267. Participles and Gerunds with “Having”.

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6. Add-On Adjective Phrases

An alternative to the above participle use is an adjective + extra words, e.g. deadly to all in (q) (see 159. Exotic Grammar Structures 2, #3).

224. Asserting the Truth of what you Say

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Speakers can use verbs, adverbs, nouns or adjectives to emphasise their belief that they are speaking the truth

EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT TRUTH MESSAGES

Most statements, even of a very elementary kind, are likely to suggest their speaker’s belief in their truth. This is because the suggestion is usually made automatically without the use of any special language, and is only removable through the addition of special uncertainty language. Thus, a sentence like The sun is shining implies its speaker’s belief in its truth, and speakers can only diminish this suggestion by some such strategy as changing the verb into uncertainty-showing may be.

Hence, it is not any means of showing a truth belief that this post is about. What I wish instead to focus on is how writers convey their truth belief in an explicit way, like this:

(a) The moon landings definitely took place.

The purpose of certainty expressions like definitely is usually to increase the addressee’s consciousness of a truth belief that could still be understood without them. This means they are a type of emphasis.They can be used with both facts and opinions  (see 107. The Language of Opinions).

Certainty language is surprisingly varied. It includes not just adverbs like definitely above, but also adjectives, nouns and verbs. This post aims to illustrate and analyse all of these possibilities. For information about the opposite – the language of uncertainty – see 96. Making Statements More Uncertain 2.

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THE VALUE OF EXPLICIT TRUTH ASSERTION

Emphasis in general has two main uses: indicating importance and highlighting a contrast (see 125. Stress and Emphasis). It is the latter that certainty language seems to achieve when added to an ordinary statement. The contrast is centred on the verb in the statement: a positive verb is emphasized not to be its negative opposite, and vice versa. Thus in (a) above the positive nature of the verb took (place) is being emphasized: the sentence highlights a belief that the negative opposite did not take (place) is untrue.

A contrast in terms of positive and negative is not the only possible one with verbs. The other one is between the basic verb used and one or more possible alternatives. For example, took place in (a) could be contrasted with were practised. However, this is not emphasis of a truth belief, and it has to be done in a different way: instead of adding a certainty adverb like definitely, one might add (rather wordily) …rather than were practised, or simply italicise took place (see 125. Stress and Emphasis, under “Emphasising a Verb”).

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TRUTH ASSERTION LANGUAGE

1. Adverbs

In addition to definitely, truth assertion adverbs include certainly, for sure, indubitably, truly, undeniably, undoubtedly and unquestionably. After negative verbs, there are also at all, at any time and by any means (see 310. Aspects of Negation, #9).

I would exclude here are some adverbs that are typically mentioned by others, such as clearly, evidently and obviously. The reason is that they do more than simply emphasise the certainty of a statement, suggesting that it is based on visible evidence and is hence probably a fact (see the end of 22. Multiple Speakers in a Text).

Adverbs in general are divided into different kinds according to both their grammatical role in sentences and their meaning type (see 120. Six Things to Know about Adverbs). Grammatically, certainty adverbs tend to link with entire statements rather than verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. As a result, they are common at the start of a sentence or just before its verb, and not (in formal writing at least) at the end. Meaning-wise, they are of the “judgement” variety (see 121. Sentence-Spanning Adverbs. #3).

Note the absence of surely from the adverb list above. Although it can mean the same, it more commonly weakens the assertiveness of a statement by suggesting “don’t you agree?” – a means of not totally dismissing possible disagreement (see 96. Making Statements More Uncertain 2):

(b) There is surely more to discover about English verbs.

It would not be possible to use for sure with the same meaning. Such disparities between an adverb and a similarly-spelled preposition phrase are by no means unusual (see 85. Preposition Phrases and Corresponding Adverbs).

Another alternative meaning to keep in mind is one expressible by all of the adverbs listed above except truly. Combined with a following but or equivalent, they usually suggest that their user accepts the truth of their statement yet disagrees with the opinion it implies (see 51. Making Concessions with “May”). In this use, certainly in particular acts as a formal equivalent of yes.

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2. Adjectives

Most certainty adjectives are just the adverbs without -ly. The main ones are certain, definite, indubitable, sure, true, undoubted, undeniable and unquestionable. In formal writing, the most typical way of using all except the underlined ones is probably as follows:

(c) It is undeniable that the moon landings took place.

Here, the emphasised statement is at the end after that, and its place as subject of is (+ adjective) is taken by a “dummy” it. The reason for this arrangement is that the presence of a verb in the statement makes it rather long and hence out of tune with the general English preference for shorter verb subjects (see 103. Representing a Later Statement with “it”).

Undoubted is not common in sentences like (c) because there is a preference to say there is no doubt that… (see 157. Tricky Word Contrasts 5, #1).

Certain, indubitable, undoubted, undeniable and unquestionable can also emphasise a truth as the last word in a statement:

(d) The occurrence of the moon landings is undeniable.

Here, the entire emphasised statement is able to precede is undeniable because its verb has become an “action” noun (occurrence: see 131. Uses of “Action” Nouns, #5). Such nouns seem to be common at the start of this sentence type.

Certain in sentences like (d) is slightly different from the other adjectives, since it can refer to the future as well as the past or present. It often needs a following to verb to clarify the time reference: a simple one for the future (e.g. to occur), one with have for the past (to have occurred) and one with be -ing for the present (to be occurring). Thus, sentence (d) can be rephrased:

(e) The moon landings are certain/sure to have occurred.

Care is needed to avoid confusing this sort of sentence with the kind illustrated by (c) (see 231. Confusions of Similar Structures 3, #6).

Certain and sure can additionally be used rather informally within the sequence I am…that…. Moreover, they may follow for (for certain, for sure), creating adverbial certainty expressions usable in the way described earlier. For more about certain, see 226. Words with Complicated Grammar 2, #2.

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3. Nouns

There seem to be fewer ways of asserting a truth belief with a noun. Although in English as a whole an adjective after it is… can often be replaced by its related noun after there is… (see 161. Special Uses of “There” Sentences, #6), most certainty adjectives cannot. The possible exception is certain (there is certainty that….), though often this seems to report someone else’s certainty rather than assert one’s own.

However, certainty adjectives with un- can usually be made into nouns by dropping un– and placing no before the noun equivalent of the remainder. Reference has already been made to the correspondence between (it is) undoubted and (there is) no doubt. In the same way, unquestionable becomes no question after there is, and undeniable becomes no denying.

One other expression, it is a (proven) fact that…, is a rare example of a certainty noun after it is rather than there is.

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4. Verbs

The truth of a statement containing a one-word verb (without any “helping” verb like BE or DO) can be asserted simply by adding DO to that verb (see 125. Stress and Emphasis). Thus, in (a) instead of definitely took place one could simply say did take place. This use of DO is usually mentioned in fairly elementary English courses, but is often just vaguely labelled “emphatic”, without any reference to truth assertion.

Alternatively, two verbs with negative meaning – DOUBT and DENY – can assert the truth of an accompanying statement by combining with cannot to form a double negative, like this:

(f) One cannot deny / doubt that the moon landings took place.

Here, the active form of these verbs is used with one as their subject and the emphasised statement as their object after that. The passive cannot be denied is also possible, either with a “dummy” it as subject, referring forward to the that part (it cannot be denied that…) or with the that part itself at the start after the fact… (see 153. Conjunction Uses of “that”, #2). For more about double negatives in English, see 9. Double Negatives.

One other common verb is CAN SAY WITH CERTAINTY. Again it can be used in either the active voice after one or the passive after it (it can be said with certainty that…).