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Hktrader Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
What is the difference(sense of time, idea) between these 2 sentence?
HI, everyone, I get a big trouble on understanding the following 2 sentences. Can anyone give me a hand? Thanks
Sentence A) Bill was in uniform when I met him. He had been a soldier for ten years.
Sentence B) Bill was being a soldier when I met him.
Actually, my problem is, how to understand the different meaning from past perfect tense(sentence A) VS past continuous tense(sentence B).
The definition in my grammar book to relative tense are:
Past perfect tense:
Past perfect tense can be used for an action which began before the time of speaking in the past and was still continuing at that time.
Past continuous tense:
Past continuous tense is used for past actions which continued for some time but whose exact limits are not known and are not important.
If, my grammar book doesn't fool me, can I say, Both sentence A and B GIVE the same meaning to the listener(receiver) that Bill was still being a soldier at the time of speaking in the past?
Sentence A) Bill was in uniform when I met him. He had been a soldier for ten years.
Sentence B) Bill was being a soldier when I met him.
Actually, my problem is, how to understand the different meaning from past perfect tense(sentence A) VS past continuous tense(sentence B).
The definition in my grammar book to relative tense are:
Past perfect tense:
Past perfect tense can be used for an action which began before the time of speaking in the past and was still continuing at that time.
Past continuous tense:
Past continuous tense is used for past actions which continued for some time but whose exact limits are not known and are not important.
If, my grammar book doesn't fool me, can I say, Both sentence A and B GIVE the same meaning to the listener(receiver) that Bill was still being a soldier at the time of speaking in the past?
Top answer
A) Bill was in uniform when I met him. He had been a soldier for ten years. -- This is not possible unless Bill is an actor playing a soldier role.
- A) Bill was in uniform when I met him.
- He had been a soldier for ten years.
- -- This is not possible unless Bill is an actor playing a soldier role.
- -- There is no real relationship between the meanings of two verb forms.
- -- No, this is wrong or misleading.
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3 Answers
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A) Bill was in uniform when I met him. He had been a soldier for ten years.
B) (X) Bill was being a soldier when I met him.-- This is not possible unless Bill is an actor playing a soldier role.
Actually, my problem is, how to understand the different meaning from past perfect tense(sentence A) VS past continuous tense(sentence B).--There is no real relationship betwe
B) (X) Bill was being a soldier when I met him.-- This is not possible unless Bill is an actor playing a soldier role.
Actually, my problem is, how to understand the different meaning from past perfect tense(sentence A) VS past continuous tense(sentence B).--There is no real relationship betwe
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Thank you for your quick respond!But I need some time to digest your remark.Can I raise question(s) if I still have problem later?
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