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Marix998 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
By 1890 some 2 million horsepower were being developed/had been being developed by steam on American farms.
Hello,
I have been reading a book (Technology in America).
As for the past 200 years, efficiency and careful husbaning of resources was thought less important than speed and size. By 1890 some 2 million horsepower were being developed by steam on American farms, and by 1910 that figure had reached its peak of 3.6 million. By 1923 there was an average of 4.47 horsepower available for work on each American farm.
I would like to know whether it would be correct to use: had been being developed instead of were being developed and had been instead of was in the next sentence.
I am asking because I had noticed only past perfect after preposition by.- By [year] past perfect....
By 1900, organized labor in America had begun to develop ...
By 1914, unions outside the United States had found that broad organization reduced ...
Could somebody explain to me when should be used simple past and past perfect after the preposition by.- By [year] past simple vs past perfect.
Thank you
m
I have been reading a book (Technology in America).
As for the past 200 years, efficiency and careful husbaning of resources was thought less important than speed and size. By 1890 some 2 million horsepower were being developed by steam on American farms, and by 1910 that figure had reached its peak of 3.6 million. By 1923 there was an average of 4.47 horsepower available for work on each American farm.
I would like to know whether it would be correct to use: had been being developed instead of were being developed and had been instead of was in the next sentence.
I am asking because I had noticed only past perfect after preposition by.- By [year] past perfect....
By 1900, organized labor in America had begun to develop ...
By 1914, unions outside the United States had found that broad organization reduced ...
Could somebody explain to me when should be used simple past and past perfect after the preposition by.- By [year] past simple vs past perfect.
Thank you
m
Top answer
" I may be barking up the wrong tree, and I've never explored this, but we say things like "The Mustang Cobra engine develops 550 HP," or ". . " It seems to me that your article is using the scientific comparison of engines to horses in order to quantify the total power which was available from engines at various times in history.
- " I may be barking up the wrong tree, and I've never explored this, but we say things like "The Mustang Cobra engine develops 550 HP," or ".
- .
- " It seems to me that your article is using the scientific comparison of engines to horses in order to quantify the total power which was available from engines at various times in history.
- - By [year] past simple vs past perfect.
- By 1923 a million people had died from X.
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1 Answers
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marix998I would like to know whether it would be correct to use: had been being developed instead of were being developedI suspect the problem here is that "to develop" has a special sense when it comes to "horsepower."
I may be barking up the wrong tree, and I've never explored this, but we say things like "The Mustang Cobra engine develops 550 HP," or "
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