Past Perfect Progressive/ Past Progressive

Question

Before they shared the same house, he had been writing to his girlfriend  every week / Before they shared the same house, he was writing to his girlfriend every week. Which one is correct and why? If I encounter a sentence like this in the exam, which one should I use? Thanks

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

AnonymousWhich one is correct and why?

Both are correct.

Typically a past perfect is used to indicate situations anterior to the past when nothing else in the sentence (before, after, until, ...) can do it. But if you have words like those to make the time sequence clear, the past is usually used instead of the past perfect.

If you get a sentence like this in an exam, complain to the examination board. They should not be asking you to distinguish between these.

Use the simple past if you have to guess.

CJ

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you very much.

BillJ · Answer

Anonymous Before they shared the same house, he had been writing to his girlfriend every week / Before they shared the same house, he was writing to his girlfriend every week. Which one is correct and why? If I encounter a sentence like this in the exam, which one should I use? Thanks

I can't see any reason to use either the past perfect progressive or the past progressive. The simple past (non-progressive) is fine:

"Before they shared the same house, he wrote to his girlfriend every week".

BillJ

Past Perfect Progressive/ Past Progressive

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