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Reegis Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

They gradually drifted / were drifting apart and their marriage ended.

Hello,

Please let's have a look at the two similar sentences:

1) They gradually drifted apart and their marriage ended.
2) They were gradually drifting apart and their marriage ended.

Are both sentences grammatically correct?
Do their meanings differ?
Which one would you use to emphasize that this process of 'drifting apart' was pretty continous and took some time?

  

Top answer

The grammar is fine in both, but the presence of "and their marriage ended" makes 1) more idiomatic to my ear. Using the beginning of 2), I expect a different ending: They were gradually drifting apart, and it looked as if their marriage was about to end. CJ

  • The grammar is fine in both, but the presence of "and their marriage ended" makes 1) more idiomatic to my ear.
  • Using the beginning of 2), I expect a different ending: They were gradually drifting apart, and it looked as if their marriage was about to end.
  • CJ
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1 Answers
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The grammar is fine in both, but the presence of "and their marriage ended" makes 1) more idiomatic to my ear.

Using the beginning of 2), I expect a different ending:

They were gradually drifting apart, and it looked as if their marriage was about to end.

CJ

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