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### Background Actions with "Mentre"

The word *mentre* means "while". In storytelling, you use it to set the scene or describe a background action that was happening over a period of time. Because these are ongoing past actions, *mentre* is followed by the **imperfetto**.

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You can also use *mentre* to describe two continuous background actions happening at the exact same time.

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### Sudden Interruptions with "Quando"

When an ongoing activity is interrupted by a sudden, one-time event, we often use the conjunction *quando* (when), sometimes paired with words like *improvvisamente* (suddenly). 

The ongoing background action remains in the **imperfetto**, while the sudden interrupting event takes the **passato prossimo**.

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You can express the exact same relationship by putting *mentre* in front of the background action. The interrupting action in the main clause will still take the *passato prossimo*.

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### Sequential Events

*Quando* isn't only for interruptions. You can also use it to show that once one completed action finished, another event happened right after, or a new state was discovered. In these cases, the completed event immediately following *quando* takes the **passato prossimo**.

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While and when (mentre, quando)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
while	mentre
to stroll / to walk (for pleasure)	passeggiare
While I was strolling, I was very hot.	Mentre passeggiavo, avevo molto caldo.
suddenly	improvvisamente
suddenly, all of a sudden (= improvvisamente)	all'improvviso
We were strolling peacefully when suddenly it started to rain.	Passeggiavamo tranquilli quando improvvisamente ha iniziato a piovere.
lightning / flash of lightning	il lampo
thunder	il tuono
While I was watching a flash of lightning in the sky, I heard loud thunder.	Mentre guardavo un lampo nel cielo, ho sentito un forte tuono.
wet	bagnato
When I returned home, this dress was all wet.	Quando sono tornato a casa, questo vestito era tutto bagnato.
The dog was afraid of the thunder while he was running on the wet grass.	Il cane aveva paura del tuono mentre correva sull'erba bagnata.
path	il sentiero
I was walking on the path when suddenly I saw a snake.	Camminavo sul sentiero quando improvvisamente ho visto un serpente.
While we were following this path, I saw a large flash of lightning.	Mentre seguivamo questo sentiero, ho visto un grande lampo.
to stop	smettere
When it stopped raining, we went out of the house.	Quando ha smesso di piovere, siamo usciti di casa.
While I was waiting at the bar, it stopped raining.	Mentre aspettavo al bar, ha smesso di piovere.
rainbow	l'arcobaleno
When it stopped raining, we saw a rainbow.	Quando ha smesso di piovere, abbiamo visto un arcobaleno.
While we were looking at the rainbow, the sun came out.	Mentre guardavamo l'arcobaleno, è uscito il sole.
mud	il fango
While I was walking in the park, I fell in the mud.	Mentre camminavo nel parco, sono caduto nel fango.
This dress was clean when we went out, but now it is full of mud.	Questo vestito era pulito quando siamo usciti, ma ora è pieno di fango.
While we are strolling, suddenly we see a flash of lightning.	Mentre passeggiamo, all'improvviso vediamo un lampo.
All of a sudden the thunderstorm arrives.	All'improvviso arriva il temporale.

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