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fw
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 361
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 Posted: Fri May 31, 2013 10:29 pm Post subject: He <had been/was> a cook for 40 years before he retire |
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I am putting a sentence in Japanese into English. Here are two of the sentences that I have made.
1. He had been a cook for forty years before he retired.
2. He was a cook for forty years before he retired.
I think #1 is good, but I am not sure about #2. Is #2 also natural and good English? |
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IanT
Joined: 13 Sep 2012
Posts: 340
Location: Spain
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| Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 5:56 am Post subject: |
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Both sound normal to me. I hear both, and would happily say both myself.
Don't know what prescriptive grammarians would tell you, though! 
Best wishes,
Ian
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fw
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 361
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| Posted: Sat Jun 01, 2013 1:30 pm Post subject: |
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Thank you, IanT, for your prompt reply.
I would like to know how some other people respond to #2. |
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