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Which of the following is correct:

1) They were accused of breaking the law, which they were doing.

2) They were accused of breaking the law, which they were.

3) They were accused of breaking the law, which they had done.

4) They were accused of breaking the law, which they had.

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7
  • 2
    I think none of them !
    – Mia
    Apr 11, 2016 at 9:49
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    Why do you need the second part of the sentence at all? They were accused of breaking the law...that's it! Of course they are the ones who broke the law!
    – Maulik V
    Apr 11, 2016 at 9:56
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    @MaulikV But being accused and actually committing a crime are not the same. I think the OP may be thinking of something like They were accused of breaking the law, which they did.
    – Damkerng T.
    Apr 11, 2016 at 10:03
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    @MaulikV ?? The two halves of the sentence assert different things. The first doesn't entail the second, and the second doesn't entail the first. Regardless of whether they committed the crime, neither half is redundant.
    – user230
    Apr 11, 2016 at 10:28
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    @DamkerngT. Yes, I mean that! I was appreciated for my work = I was appreciated for the work I did!
    – Maulik V
    Apr 11, 2016 at 11:54

1 Answer 1

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5

I find all four of them acceptable, with 2) and 4) a little bit more natural than the others.

The difference between the first two and the last two is the temporal focus of the utterance - 1 & 2 focus on the time when they were breaking the law, and 3 & 4 on a time afterwards (probably when the accusation was made).

As is common with choices about the perfect in English, the difference reflects how the speaker is viewing the events, not any objective difference in the events that occurred.

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