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Anonymous Posted 15 years ago
Grammar
Every time
Hello, could you please tell which of the following sentences is correct?
Every time I was doing this excercise I made a mistake.
Every time I did this excercise I made a mistake.
Every time I was doing this excercise I made a mistake.
Every time I did this excercise I made a mistake.
Top answer
Consider that "every time" identifies a completed period of time. From what you know of the past imperfect and the past perfect tenses, what does that tell you?
- Consider that "every time" identifies a completed period of time.
- From what you know of the past imperfect and the past perfect tenses, what does that tell you?
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3 Answers
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Consider that "every time" identifies a completed period of time.
From what you know of the past imperfect and the past perfect tenses, what does that tell you?
From what you know of the past imperfect and the past perfect tenses, what does that tell you?
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I would choose the first one - Every time I was doing this excercise I made a mistake.
Am I right?
Am I right?
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I'm sorry, I should have said "past imperfect" and "past simple".
But the clue lies in past imperfect: generally this presents an action in progress, i.e. not completed; whereas "every time" tends to identify a series of completed periods of time.
So I would choose the past simple, in your example.
But the clue lies in past imperfect: generally this presents an action in progress, i.e. not completed; whereas "every time" tends to identify a series of completed periods of time.
So I would choose the past simple, in your example.
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