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Heartvampire Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Past Perfect Continuous Vs Past Continuous

In this sentence is it Ok to use the past perfect continuous
- They had been playing soccer when the accident occurred
and if we use the same sentence in the past continuous what will be the difference? Will it be OK? will there be a difference in meaning?
- They were playing when the accident occurred.

I am kinda lost Emotion: sad . Thank you
  

Top answer

There's a slight difference in meaning. Using the past perfect continuous tense, you are emphasizing the duration of an action in the past. Normally we use some indication of time, but sometimes it is omitted.

— Morphologic Chris

  • There's a slight difference in meaning.
  • Using the past perfect continuous tense, you are emphasizing the duration of an action in the past.
  • Normally we use some indication of time, but sometimes it is omitted.
  • "They had been playing soccer (for 2 hours) when the accident occurred" <--highlighting duration from 2 different timeframes.
  • If you are using the past continuous tense, then you are emphasizing the interruption of an action within the same timeframe.
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1 Answers
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There's a slight difference in meaning. Using the past perfect continuous tense, you are emphasizing the duration of an action in the past. Normally we use some indication of time, but sometimes it is omitted.

"They had been playing soccer (for 2 hours) when the accident occurred" <--highlighting duration from 2 different timeframes.

If you are using the past continuous ten
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