Children laughed as they chased butterflies nearby.

Meaning: This means that children were having fun chasing butterflies near them.

Choice of Words: Children are young people, typically between the ages of 2 and 12. Laughed means to make a sound expressing amusement or joy. Chased means to pursue or follow someone or something in order to catch them. Butterflies are colorful flying insects with large, often brightly colored wings. Nearby means close to a particular place or thing. This depicts a scene of children having fun catching butterflies.

Alternative Expressions

The children were laughing as they chased the butterflies that were flying nearby.

Meaning: This sentence describes a group of children who were laughing while they were chasing a group of butterflies that were flying near them.

Choice of Words: The is a definite article that refers to a specific group of children. Were is the past tense of be, and it indicates that the action of laughing was happening in the past. Laughing is the present participle of laugh, and it means to make a sound expressing amusement or happiness. As is a conjunction that connects two clauses and shows that the second clause happened at the same time as the first clause. They is a pronoun that refers to the children. Chased is the past tense of chase, and it means to run after someone or something in order to catch them. The is a definite article that refers to a specific group of butterflies. Butterflies are flying insects with large, often brightly colored wings. That is a relative pronoun that refers to the butterflies. Were is the past tense of be, and it indicates that the action of flying was happening in the past. Flying is the present participle of fly, and it means to move through the air using wings. Nearby means close to the children.

The children who were laughing chased the butterflies that were flying nearby.

Meaning: This sentence describes a group of children who were laughing while they were chasing a group of butterflies that were flying near them.

Choice of Words: The is a definite article that refers to a specific group of children. Children is the plural of child, and it refers to a group of young people. Who is a relative pronoun that refers to the children. Were is the past tense of be, and it indicates that the action of laughing was happening in the past. Laughing is the present participle of laugh, and it means to make a sound expressing amusement or happiness. Chased is the past tense of chase, and it means to run after someone or something in order to catch them. The is a definite article that refers to a specific group of butterflies. Butterflies are flying insects with large, often brightly colored wings. That is a relative pronoun that refers to the butterflies. Were is the past tense of be, and it indicates that the action of flying was happening in the past. Flying is the present participle of fly, and it means to move through the air using wings. Nearby means close to the children.

Related Expressions