他们是在同病相怜还是在合对口供?用英语怎么说？

他们是在同病相怜还是在合对口供?

Were they commiserating or comparing notes?

were

be的过去时复数和第二人称单数形式，有时代替 was,用于条件从句、动词 wish 之后等；

例句
Shops, houses, and vehicles were set ablaze.
店铺、房子和车辆全都陷于火海。

they

pron. 他/她/它们，人们，大家，政府，当局，她们；

例句
The storms had abated by the time they rounded Cape Horn.
他们绕过合恩角时，暴风雨已经减弱。

commiserating

v. 怜悯，同情( commiserate的现在分词 )；

例句
Were they commiserating or comparing notes?
他们是在同病相怜还是在合对口供?

or

conj. 或，或者，还是，不然，否则，左右；prep. <古、诗>在…之前，比…更早；n. [纹章]黑金色、黑色；

例句
We are scared to abandon ourselves to our feelings in case we seem weak or out of control.
我们不敢放纵自己的情感，以免显得太过软弱或缺乏自制。

comparing

v. 比较，对照( compare的现在分词 )，把…比做，比喻，比拟（常与 to连用）；

例句
You have to make sure you're comparing like with like...
你必须确保是在进行同类比较。

notes

vt. 记下，对…加注释；n. 注意( note的名词复数 )，笔记，单音，特征；

例句
He wrote a few more notes on the board.
他在黑板上又写了几条注释。