WHEN et WHILE - Past Continuous

WHEN + preterit simple (interruption)

I WAS WRITING when he CALLED = j'etais en train d'ecrire quand il a appele (interruption)

Action en coursAction soudaineTraduction
I was workingwhen he arrivedj'etais en train de travailler quand il est arrive
She was presentingwhen the system crashedelle presentait quand le systeme a plante
They were negotiatingwhen I walked inils negociaient quand je suis entre

WHILE + past continuous (simultaneite)

WHILE she was presenting, he was taking notes = pendant qu'elle presentait, il prenait des notes

Action 1Action 2
While I was writingshe was calling clients
While they were meetingwe were preparing the proposal