[etni] Fwd: Grammar question
- From: ETNI list <etni.list@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Etni <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2011 13:38:05 +0200
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jenifer Byk <byk@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Grammar question
While we were eating dinner they told/were telling us about their
wonderful adventures.
I know how annoying it is for a native speaker to turn around and say
“were telling” just doesn’t sound right, but there it is. It doesn’t
sound right! I am a native speaker English teacher; I tried it out on
various English teachers and English speakers, and none of them went
for “were telling”.
Now I know one can justify it with the rules for past progressive, so
is there anything that will justify the native speakers gut feeling
that it isn’t right, or is it just a question of usage?
Jennifer Byk
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