A puzzling question

Question

I think the correct answer is 'was always arguing'. My friend thinks that both 'was always arguing' and 'always argued' are correct here. Is he right? Why? / Why not?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

Omar AhmedI think the correct answer is 'was always arguing'.

You're right.

Omar AhmedMy friend thinks that both 'was always arguing' and 'always argued' are correct here. Is he right?

He's right that it's also grammatically correct, but he's not right that it's the best answer, which is what students need to choose on these kinds of exams.

To give the impression that arguments between a husband and wife are irksome enough to end in divorce, you need the continuous tense. We can infer that this sort of behavior went on and on. It seemed that it never stopped. It continued.

'always' helps to give the right impression here, but the -ing form more closely corresponds to that impression and should therefore be used together with 'always' so that all the elements of the sentence are going in the same direction, so to speak.

CJ

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