Difference between was and being in this sentence

Question

Many accidents occurred prior to the peak lane was introduced.Many accidents occurred prior to the peak lane being introduced.

Clive · Accepted Answer

Many accidents occurred prior to the peak lane was introduced. No

Many accidents occurred prior to the peak lane being introduced. OK

You can also say

Many accidents occurred prior to the introduction of the peak lane.

AlpheccaStars · Answer

Hasibul AlamMany accidents occurred prior to the peak lane was introduced.

That is not grammatically correct.

Hasibul AlamMany accidents occurred prior to the peak lane being introduced.

That is grammatically correct.

CalifJim · Answer

Hasibul Alam Difference between was and being in this sentence

was is a finite form. (It is the past tense of be.)
being is a non-finite form. (It is the (present) participle of be.)

being is the non-finite form that corresponds to the finite form was in that sentence.

Many accidents occurred prior to

This part of the sentence ends in the preposition to. You could finish the sentence with a very short and vague noun phrase like this action. That's the complement of the preposition to.

Many accidents occurred prior to [this action]_comp.

But if you want to finish the sentence with a full clause that describes the action, you have to take into account that it goes after a preposition (to).

The finite form of a verb is not permitted after a preposition. Only the non-finite form is permitted. Thus,

Many accidents occurred prior to [the peak lane was introduced]_comp.
(Not correct)

Many accidents occurred prior to [the peak lane being introduced]_comp.
(Correct)

If you'd like, try to correct the following incorrect sentences. They have the same mistake. I can check them for you later.

No one objected to [the managers were late].
We always relied on [the boss was frank with us].
I don't approve of [the children play in the street].

Note: These are the simplest kinds of participle clauses. There are more rules to follow, but I have not given you any sentences that require the use of these advanced rules.

CJ

Difference between was and being in this sentence

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