Past perfect progressive instead of past perfect simple
This is from a novel:
The man who had sat next to her the day before began to laugh. Is it possible to say: the man who had been sitting next to her the day before began to laugh?
Top answer
olive file 673 This is from a novel: The man who had sat next to her the day before began to laugh. Is it possible to say: the man who had been sitting next to her the day before began to laugh? In my opinion, both tenses can be used and the only difference in meaning I see is in emphasis.
- olive file 673 This is from a novel: The man who had sat next to her the day before began to laugh.
- Is it possible to say: the man who had been sitting next to her the day before began to laugh?
- In my opinion, both tenses can be used and the only difference in meaning I see is in emphasis.
- "had sat" emphasises the fact of the proximity of "the man" and "her" in some point of time in the past, whereas "had been sitting" describes the fact of that proximity together with some (long or short) duration of that situation.
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olive file 673This is from a novel:
The man who had sat next to her the day before began to laugh. Is it possible to say: the man who had been sitting next to her the day before began to laugh?
In my opinion, both tenses can be used and the only difference in meaning I see is in emphasis. "had sat" emphasises the fact of the proximity of "the m
0You could also say this.
The man who sat next to her the day before began to laugh.
We often don't use Past Perfect when a word like 'before' makes the sequence of events clear.
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