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Taka Posted 13 years ago
Grammar

Past perfect

I took a trip for a change two weeks ago. I had been very busy because I had so many projects lined up and worked on them at once.

About the tense in the because-clause, is the simple past OK even though the tense in the main clause is the past perfect?
  

Top answer

Taka is the simple past OK even though the tense in the main clause is the past perfect? It should be, by general practice, and it is with the first 'had', but here I found myself confused by 'worked'. It is the wrong verb form choice, I think, along with the ambiguity of 'at once'.

— Mister Micawber

  • Taka is the simple past OK even though the tense in the main clause is the past perfect?
  • It should be, by general practice, and it is with the first 'had', but here I found myself confused by 'worked'.
  • It is the wrong verb form choice, I think, along with the ambiguity of 'at once'.
  • I had been very busy because I had so many projects lined up and was working on them all at the same time .
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2 Answers
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Taka is the simple past OK even though the tense in the main clause is the past perfect?
It should be, by general practice, and it is with the first 'had', but here I found myself confused by 'worked'. It is the wrong verb form choice, I think, along with the ambiguity of 'at once'.

I had been very busy because I had so many projects lined up and
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Good. And I agree that "was working" works better.

Thanks, MM!
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