Using Past-Perfect interchangeably with the Past Continuous
I've seen this sentence in another post here:
- Tom Cruise was thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
Would it be fine to use the Past-Perfect as well? If so, which tense is better?
Here are a few options that came to my mind:
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
or
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
- Tom Cruise had thought of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
past-perfect past-perfect-continuous
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
add a comment |
I've seen this sentence in another post here:
- Tom Cruise was thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
Would it be fine to use the Past-Perfect as well? If so, which tense is better?
Here are a few options that came to my mind:
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
or
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
- Tom Cruise had thought of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
past-perfect past-perfect-continuous
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
add a comment |
I've seen this sentence in another post here:
- Tom Cruise was thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
Would it be fine to use the Past-Perfect as well? If so, which tense is better?
Here are a few options that came to my mind:
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
or
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
- Tom Cruise had thought of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
past-perfect past-perfect-continuous
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
I've seen this sentence in another post here:
- Tom Cruise was thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
Would it be fine to use the Past-Perfect as well? If so, which tense is better?
Here are a few options that came to my mind:
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before finding a job in the movies.
or
- Tom Cruise had been thinking of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
- Tom Cruise had thought of a career in the church before he found a job in the movies.
past-perfect past-perfect-continuous
past-perfect past-perfect-continuous
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
edited 2 hours ago
SunnySideDown
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
asked 3 hours ago
SunnySideDownSunnySideDown
604
604
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
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All three of these sentences are grammatical as well. The past perfect tense is no better than the simple past tense in this situation; they're equally good. The word before tells you that the thinking happened, and then the finding happened afterwards.
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
add a comment |
All of these are perfectly acceptable. The forms using "had been thinking" suggest a process of thought which extended over some time, but ended, either when the job was found, or before that. The for with "had thought" suggests a single instance of thought that occurred before the job was found.
But many native speakers will not make these fine distinctions, and may use any of the four forms in the question interchangeably, with no difference of meaning.
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
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active
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All three of these sentences are grammatical as well. The past perfect tense is no better than the simple past tense in this situation; they're equally good. The word before tells you that the thinking happened, and then the finding happened afterwards.
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
add a comment |
All three of these sentences are grammatical as well. The past perfect tense is no better than the simple past tense in this situation; they're equally good. The word before tells you that the thinking happened, and then the finding happened afterwards.
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
add a comment |
All three of these sentences are grammatical as well. The past perfect tense is no better than the simple past tense in this situation; they're equally good. The word before tells you that the thinking happened, and then the finding happened afterwards.
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
All three of these sentences are grammatical as well. The past perfect tense is no better than the simple past tense in this situation; they're equally good. The word before tells you that the thinking happened, and then the finding happened afterwards.
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
answered 3 hours ago
MixolydianMixolydian
3,118511
3,118511
add a comment |
add a comment |
All of these are perfectly acceptable. The forms using "had been thinking" suggest a process of thought which extended over some time, but ended, either when the job was found, or before that. The for with "had thought" suggests a single instance of thought that occurred before the job was found.
But many native speakers will not make these fine distinctions, and may use any of the four forms in the question interchangeably, with no difference of meaning.
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
New contributor
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
All of these are perfectly acceptable. The forms using "had been thinking" suggest a process of thought which extended over some time, but ended, either when the job was found, or before that. The for with "had thought" suggests a single instance of thought that occurred before the job was found.
But many native speakers will not make these fine distinctions, and may use any of the four forms in the question interchangeably, with no difference of meaning.
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
New contributor
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
All of these are perfectly acceptable. The forms using "had been thinking" suggest a process of thought which extended over some time, but ended, either when the job was found, or before that. The for with "had thought" suggests a single instance of thought that occurred before the job was found.
But many native speakers will not make these fine distinctions, and may use any of the four forms in the question interchangeably, with no difference of meaning.
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
New contributor
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
All of these are perfectly acceptable. The forms using "had been thinking" suggest a process of thought which extended over some time, but ended, either when the job was found, or before that. The for with "had thought" suggests a single instance of thought that occurred before the job was found.
But many native speakers will not make these fine distinctions, and may use any of the four forms in the question interchangeably, with no difference of meaning.
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
New contributor
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
New contributor
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
answered 2 hours ago
David SiegelDavid Siegel
3766
3766
New contributor
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
New contributor
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
David Siegel is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
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