17
votes
Perfect fit for a grammatical error
3 and 4 are both grammatically correct, though 4 is clearly the most natural, so it is the correct answer according to the wording of the question, "the most appropriate option".
4 is ...
- 48.8k
13
votes
Accepted
weren't playing vs didn't play
Okay, so this is a very specific answer to a very specific question. In this specific case, where there are sports teams involved, there's actually a difference in how I, as a native speaker of ...
- 22.7k
9
votes
Accepted
.... I was being! / what does it mean?
When BE is cast in the progressive construction (BE + present participle), it describes the subject's current behavior, as opposed to his more or less permanent nature or character:
I was being ...
- 175k
9
votes
Accepted
I'm very tired because I travelled for several hours this morning
I dispute your premise. (2) sounds perfectly fine to me, and I am a native speaker. Consider the following, which has exactly the same grammatical form:
I'm very tired because I travelled all day ...
- 1,365
6
votes
Accepted
Past Perfect Continuous vs Past Simple
As is often the case with aspectual distinctions in English (perfect or not; continuous or not) both are possible, depending on how the speaker is choosing to present the temporal structure of the ...
- 73.7k
6
votes
Accepted
I repaired/was reparing my bike from 2 to 4pm
The difference is in whether you are choosing to present the activity as a completed whole, or as a process that continued. That is all.
There is no objective difference. There are no implications ...
- 73.7k
5
votes
Accepted
"had walked" vs "was walking"
With "I had walked," it separates the walking and seeing. Therefore, that chronological order suggests the following:
Started walking down road
Finished walking down road
Saw Dan
Stopped
...
- 259
5
votes
Using past continuous to refer to past habits with adverbials of frequency?
They're all grammatical.
You could say
In those days, I was taking the train to work every day.
In those days, I took the train to work every day.
In those days, I would take the train ...
- 121k
5
votes
weren't playing vs didn't play
Complementing the British English perspective provided by SamBC, here's an American English perspective (more specifically Midwestern American English).
There's a slight linguistic difference between ...
- 4,098
5
votes
Accepted
"Words were different when they (lived / were living) inside of you"
It is correct. There is no grammatical requirement for clauses following the "when" conjunction to be in the continuous tense, especially not with verbs like "live" that already indicate a state, not ...
- 202k
5
votes
Accepted
Difference between Past continuous and Past perfect continuous
I think the sentence is wrong, it should either be "they had been playing football since 10 o'clock, meaning they started at ten and continued until a later time, or "they were playing football at ten"...
- 3,909
5
votes
I repaired/was reparing my bike from 2 to 4pm
In terms of literal meaning, they are equivalent. The difference is one of emphasis.
Main Events
The first reason to use the past continuous is to emphasize the main event of some story. If several ...
- 2,106
5
votes
Accepted
Past Perfect vs Past Continuous
These don't break any fundamental grammar rules, but are oddly phrased and not very natural.
"Last year" in many contexts refers to calendar years, (so last year was 2022) You could say, &...
- 202k
4
votes
Accepted
"...she had not been attending class" or "...she was not attending class"?
The usage of past perfect continuous indicates that the classes were before the exam. Past continuous would indicate that the exam occurred in the middle of the classes that she missed.
Past perfect ...
- 59k
4
votes
Maise ate / had been eating sweets all evening so it was not suprising > she didn't want any supper
The teacher made an error.
Past perfect continuous is to describe actions in the past that continued into another point in the past; or a duration in the past.
It can be also used for something that ...
- 4,554
4
votes
Accepted
Past Perfect vs Past Perfect Continuous
Your interpretations of the sentences are mostly correct, except for this one:
When I last went to Moscow, they had been renovating St Basil's Cathedral.
To me, this means that when you last went ...
- 5,552
4
votes
Accepted
is it possible to use the past continuous with before?
Certainly. As with many choices of aspect in English, either is possible, and differs only in how the speaker wishes to refer to the events. The choice of watched implies that, for the purpose of the ...
- 73.7k
4
votes
Accepted
Can I use "Have been" with "Until" in this sentence?
It's not really correct, because "have been dealing" is the present perfect continuous (which is a present tense like the name says, talking about a present status!) but "until I stumbled" is talking ...
- 40.8k
4
votes
I was meeting vs. I met
As is very often the case with tenses in English, both are possible, depending on how you are choosing to view the temporal structure of the events, rather than on an objective difference in the ...
- 73.7k
4
votes
Before the party: Question about the past perfect continuous tense
In OP's first version, he was happy at time of speaking (the time when he was telling people about being happy).
In the second version, he was telling them about having been happy at some earlier ...
- 68.6k
4
votes
Accepted
I am reading or I was reading a book?
Like Colleen said, in spoken English you can say whichever makes sense to you or feels right in the moment. Either response would be perfectly natural.
It might be a little more common to say "I'...
- 21k
4
votes
Accepted
Is " advertise" ok in this case?
to advertise for something is what you do when you are trying to get/obtain/find that something. So advertising for a concert doesn't make much sense (since "trying to obtain a concert" is ...
- 73.7k
4
votes
Past Perfect vs Past Continuous
You are still employed as a manager:
For the past year, I have been working as a manager.
You are no longer employed as a manager:
Until recently, I was working as a manager.
(Up) until two months ...
- 3,049
3
votes
Is the following usage of past progressive correct?
The difference:
Continuity.
No, they are not interchangeable.
Your first sentence does not specify or imply a termination of the event. Although everyone knows that the Nazis were indeed defeated,...
- 1,836
3
votes
Maise ate / had been eating sweets all evening so it was not suprising > she didn't want any supper
Well, both versions are valid English. The difference is in which part of the sentence is signaled to be main issue.
If the story is about eating sweets, use ate:
It was the day after Halloween, ...
- 1,537
3
votes
past continuous for a short action
It is quite common for the progressive construction to be employed in order to "recategorize" a verb which ordinarily has one sort of aspect into a different aspect.
For instance, stative verbs are ...
- 175k
3
votes
Did you think you .... me somewhere before?
Because the question is in Past Tense, the only correct choice (from those you gave) is
Did you think you had seen me somewhere before?
You can't use "were seeing" because it is continuous. You ...
- 8,429
3
votes
Did you think you .... me somewhere before?
Unfortunately, you're trying to decide between both wrong answers.
Did you think you had seen me somewhere before?
I don't know who taught you these rules that "have" is only used with "ever," "...
- 3,594
3
votes
Accepted
Past progressive for a finished event
Technically, if you considered only that sentence, either choice would be possible (It was Friday, the first day of our skiing holiday, and my friend Jason and I had been/were skiing down the mountain ...
- 27.1k
3
votes
A question about 'must have been someone'
Old (Simple) Answer
"Stealing" and "who stole" my wallet both work, although they have different meanings.
If you're talking about someone who stole your wallet, you'd refer to ...
- 269
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