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Farassoo Posted 9 years ago
Grammar

Was or had been

Hello.
Which one is grammatical here: was or had been?

The obvious question is whether I'm happy I got married. The answer is "Absolutely". When I remember how my life was/had been like before we got married, I realize now how lonely I was/had been before.
  

Top answer

farassoo When I remember how what my life was like before we got married, I realize now how lonely I had been before. As shown above. However, you could use 'was' a second time at the end instead of 'had been'.

— CalifJim

  • farassoo When I remember how what my life was like before we got married, I realize now how lonely I had been before.
  • As shown above.
  • However, you could use 'was' a second time at the end instead of 'had been'.
  • _____ how ...
  • like is not correct.
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5 Answers
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farassooWhen I remember how what my life was like before we got married, I realize now how lonely I had been before.
As shown above.
However, you could use 'was' a second time at the end instead of 'had been'.
_____
how .
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Thank you for your help.

I didn't understand one thing. Both of these happened before she got married:
what my life was like before...
how lonely I had been before

Why I can't use had been in the first one?
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farassooWhy I can't use had been in the first one?
Strictly speaking you can, but it sounds very strange to skip a time period like that:
.
Present . - . Past - Past Perfect
remember - ??? - life had been
........................ how lonely I had been
.
It's better
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Thank you. It was really helpful. I was confused because my teacher said 'had been' was wrong and don't use 'be' in the past perfect form.
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farassoodon't use 'be' in the past perfect form.
Emotion: surprise
'be' is fine in the past perfect tens
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