Past perfect continuous? verb (+ for) + time period??

Question

Hi, please help!!I am teaching English at a Japanese school and a multiple choice test offered these 2 options:1. Tom had not studied in Japan two weeks before he got homesick.2. Tom had not studied in Japan for two weeks before he got homesick.Can someone please explain why the former (#1) is the correct answer????Thank you!:-) Tara-sensei

Avangi · Accepted Answer

It's a casual idiom.

I hadn't taken two swallows when I began to throw up!
He hadn't walked half a block before he changed his mind.
She hadn't been with him two minutes before he started making fun of her.

Terri Amador · Answer

Hey there!
Sentence #1 is correct because "had (not) studied"~~being past perfect~~-and the past tense verb "got" in the adverbial clause really go together. Remember that one use of the past perfect is to express that one event happened before another in the past. In this case, Tom studied (or did not study) FIRST then he got homesick.
Sentence #2 is wrong because the use of FOR here suggests DURATION, which we commonly use in the PRESENT PERFECT to express that an action or condition started in the past and continues to the present. (ex. Tom has lived/has been living in Japan for one week.) However, it is clear that Tom's studying and his getting homesick ARE BOTH OVER OR FINISHED. The use of FOR is just unnecessary.
I hope this helps. =)

Avangi · Answer

Terri AmadorSentence #2 is wrong because the use of FOR here suggests DURATION, which we commonly use in the PRESENT PERFECT to express that an action or condition started in the past and continues to the present.

Dinosaurs had roamed the Earth for centuries before climate change finally caused their extinction.

"For" does indeed suggest duration, but I don't think it's wrong to use it with simple past and past perfect, especially when context makes the time sequence clear.

- A.

Welcome to English Forums, terri. Thanks for joining us! [<:o)]

Best wishes, - A.

Avangi · Answer

Anonymous1. Tom had not studied in Japan two weeks before he got homesick.

2. Tom had not studied in Japan for two weeks before he got homesick.

I believe Tara-sensei's example is about English idioms.
Neither choice is actually incorrect.
The first one (with the idiom) is admittedly awkward to the ear of the English learner.
The second one, on the other hand, seems strange to the native speaker.
(The idiom is somewhat casual.)

Terri Amador · Answer

Thank you, too, for pointing it out to me! :-)

Past perfect continuous? verb (+ for) + time period??

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions