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Anonymous Posted 5 years ago
Grammar

Past continuous vs past perfect continuous

Is "Benjamin was watching a movie before Alison came in." really wrong?

The app says had been watching / came is correct because the past continuous tense is wrong as it would not show that the first action started before the second. However I believe that "before" is enough to indicate that.

  

Top answer

Benjamin was watching a movie before Alison came in " This doe not tell us that he was still watching it. For that, say eg Benjamin was watching a movie when before Alison came in . Clive

  • Benjamin was watching a movie before Alison came in " This doe not tell us that he was still watching it.
  • For that, say eg Benjamin was watching a movie when before Alison came in .
  • Clive
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2 Answers
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Benjamin was watching a movie before Alison came in" This doe not tell us that he was still watching it.

For that, say eg Benjamin was watching a movie when before Alison came in.

Clive

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anonymousI believe that "before" is enough to indicate that.

Yes, but in any case 'had been watching' sounds a lot classier, and your app is probably aiming high.

It seems to me that combinations of a clause with the present continuous and a clause with the present simple usually have some kind of causal relationship, not just watching a movie and som

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