My Grammar and I (Or Should That Be 'Me'?): Old-School Ways to Sharpen Your English

A word on while and although
Although some grammarians argue that using while in the same way as although
is  perfectly  acceptable,  there  are  times  when  this  can  lead  to  confusion,
miscommunication and other bad things that grammar rules strive to avoid.

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While she
was
writing,
her pencil
broke.
No problem here: her pencil broke at the same time as she
was writing.
While I
like tea, I
would
prefer
gin.
Fine, but although would work equally well in place of
while .
While
Cyprus is
hot, you
can ski.
You’re unlikely to misunderstand this, but replacing while
with although would remove any possibility of ambiguity.
While
Sally
plays the
triangle,
Judy
sings.
Aha. Now we have genuine ambiguity. Does Sally
accompany Judy’s playing, or is Judy’s speciality singing
and Sally’s playing the triangle? If the latter, use although
.