'Lorsque' and 'Alors que'

Question

Does the same rule explained in this lesson also apply for Lorsque and Alors que ?

'Lorsque je serai vieux, j'aurai une maison.' [When I AM old, I will have a house.]

'Tu feras tes devoirs alors que je ferai la vaisselle.' [You will do your homework while I DO the dishes.]

Accepted Answer

Bonjour Aashpreet,
In"Lorsque je serai vieux, j'aurai une maison", the use of "lorsque" is correct as it also means"quand" (= when).
In "Tu feras tes devoirs alors que je ferai la vaisselle", "alors que" is the equivalent of "tandis que" and means "whereas" here. It's different from "while" which is translated with "pendant que".
I've discussed this point with my other French colleague and a little explanation will be added in the lesson to address this point. Bear with us while we're making the changes.
I hope this is helpful.
Bonne journée !

Answer

With lorsque - yes as its just formal way of saying While

with alors que and tandis que (formal version), no, as these are used to shown contrast while, X is false while Y is true

better word will be whereas for comparison with English.

the rule is true only when two things are happening in the same time and one of the activiity is in future. In english its easy to get by simply saying both in present. In formal french, not quite.