grammar question: the word "as"

[trixie]

Hey smart grammar folks! I have a question.

I've seen this (and am working on correcting it) in my own ms, but I've seen it in my crit group sections also. I feel like it might be wrong, but I don't know why. It's the use of the word "as."

For ex:
Amy jumped out of her seat as the door blew open.
I get that the door blowing open scared Amy, but is the sentence right? (Not good, but right.)

The section I read today had a number of sentences where action in the first half was joined to action in the second half by the word "as." Character doing verb x as action y happens. Is this a crutch word, or is this okay?

[Quill]

For ex:
Amy jumped out of her seat as the door blew open.
I get that the door blowing open scared Amy, but is the sentence right? (Not good, but right.)

It is incorrect. "As" in this context implies "concurrently". And clearly the two actions are not concurrent. The door blew open, causing Amy to jump. The door blew open first, and then Amy jumped. That is, unless the two actions are meant to be coincidental: Amy just happened to jump as the door blew open. It isn't quite clear which meaning applies, from the brief example given.

[Doug Pardee]

What Quill said. Here's an article about the matter: http://www.floggingthequill.com/floggin ... ur_as.html

There are other ways that "as" is commonly abused, too. It's a word that I try to avoid unless I'm sure that it's the correct choice for the situation.