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If I wanted to say "We found ourselves in traffic while driving to the airport," I would say Ci siamo trovati nel traffico mentre guidando all'aeroporto.
Google Translate seems to understand guidando as "driving" but when I enter "while driving", I get mentre si guida.
So how would a native speaker say that sentence? What is the difference between the two options and when should I use one or the other?
A native speaker would say:
Ci siamo trovati nel traffico mentre stavamo guidando verso l’aeroporto
You could replace stavamo guidando with a more generic stavamo andando or andavamo without mentioning the transportation mean.
Mentre si guida is not correct here because you should use it in sentences like this:
È vietato usare il cellulare mentre si guida
It is forbidden to use the mobile phone while driving
Using "mentre si guida" or "guidando" is the same, because both are referring to a generic situation usually done by someone, and don't specify who is driving in particular. So for a correct translation on Google Translate I suppose you should write:
English: "We found ourselves in traffic while we were driving to the airport"
Italian: "Ci siamo trovati nel traffico mentre stavamo guidando verso l'aeroporto"
