English Language Learners Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for speakers of other languages learning English. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
a. The songs playing in the background were composed by Bob.
b. The songs played in the bacground were composed by Bob.
I want to know which sentence is correct. Some say 'playing' is right but some say 'played' is right (we are not natives). Sometimes it is confusing for us (non native) to use '~ing', or '~ed' forms.
So, what is correct? or both are possible? I'm really confused by this question. I would be pleased if I got the answer. Anyway, thank you for reading this post.
Both sentences are possible and correct, but might be used for different contexts
1) The songs playing in the background were composed by Bob.
2) The songs played in the background were composed by Bob.
Both sentences talk about the background music
#1 sets the scene while the music was playing
#2 sets the scene after the music played.
These sentences are both correct but have different tenses. The first sentence is present tense because of the word playing - while the second is past tense because played is past tense.
PS to make the second sentence easier to read - put 'that' played in the background.
