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ryu
Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 4:57 am Post subject: had played or had been playing |
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He had played tennis for an hour when we arrived.
He had been playing tennis for an hour when we arrived.
Which sentence is appropriate? or Can we use both as the same meaning? |
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Lorikeet
Joined: 08 Oct 2005
Posts: 1877
Location: San Francisco
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| Posted: Tue Jun 30, 2015 11:19 am Post subject: Re: had played or had been playing |
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| ryu wrote: |
He had played tennis for an hour when we arrived.
He had been playing tennis for an hour when we arrived.
Which sentence is appropriate? or Can we use both as the same meaning? |
Well, "He had been playing tennis for an hour when we arrived." to me means that our arrival interrupted his playing, so that he had played for the hour prior to our arrival.
"He had played tennis for an hour when we arrived." sounds better with an "already" (He had already played tennis for an hour when we arrived.) and in that case I am not sure which hour he played. He could have stopped before we arrived.
That's my opinion. |
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