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Anonymous Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
"engage in" versus "be engaged in"
Hi,
I found the sentence like "they were engaging in improper business practices for 10 years."
Do you see any difference between that sentence and "they were engaged in improper business practices for 10 years"? If so, could you explain how to use "be engaged in" and "engage in" separately?
Thanks in advance,
I found the sentence like "they were engaging in improper business practices for 10 years."
Do you see any difference between that sentence and "they were engaged in improper business practices for 10 years"? If so, could you explain how to use "be engaged in" and "engage in" separately?
Thanks in advance,
Top answer
were engaging in is in the active past continuous. Here it means that they were repeatedly "engaging" in the past, that it were several incidents of "engaging" done by them. I don't think this tense is correct.
- were engaging in is in the active past continuous.
- Here it means that they were repeatedly "engaging" in the past, that it were several incidents of "engaging" done by them.
- I don't think this tense is correct.
- were engaged in is in the passive simple past.
- This sounds better, as it indicates a duration in the past.
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1 Answers
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were engaging in is in the active past continuous. Here it means that they were repeatedly "engaging" in the past, that it were several incidents of "engaging" done by them. I don't think this tense is correct.
were engaged in is in the passive simple past. This sounds better, as it indicates a duration in the past. The passive voice indicates that they were not just starti
were engaged in is in the passive simple past. This sounds better, as it indicates a duration in the past. The passive voice indicates that they were not just starti
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