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Yulion Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

Why Past Continuous?

Here is the context: "Edison accepted the offer and soon he was having regular lessons". I feel that "was having" (not "had") is the right variant. But how can I explain it to my students? It does not fit to any of past continuous rules that I'm aware of:( P.S.: I've already posted this question as anonimous, but I wasn'n able to find it Emotion: sad
  

Top answer

Edison accepted the offer and soon he was attending regular lessons. ) Does it help?

— Tamguatlay

  • Edison accepted the offer and soon he was attending regular lessons.
  • ) Does it help?
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6 Answers
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Edison accepted the offer and soon he was attending regular lessons. ("having" means "attending".)

Does it help?
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Nope, grammar is still under question. The action is repeated, which normally demands past indefinite, but not here.
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yulionNope, grammar is still under question. The action is repeated, which normally demands past indefinite, but not here.
Are you OK with "He is having regular lessons"? Your example is just the past version of this.
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Probably.., just consider it as ann action in progress?
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Repeated anction in progress?
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yulion Repeated anction in progress?
Right (doesn't literally have to be in progress at the moment the statement is made).
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