Our team had been winning until half time

[englishhobby]

Are both variants grammatically correct and natural?
1) Our team had been winning until half time, but in the second half the other team scored three goals, and so they beat us.
2) Our team was winning until half time, but in the second half the other team scored three goals, and so they beat us.

In the textbook they say only the second variant is correct (though usually they give all the possible variants in the key).

 

[Rover_KE]

Are both variants grammatically correct and natural?
.

They are to me.

 

[jutfrank]

They are both grammatically correct and natural, but knowing this doesn't help you identify the difference in use between past perfect and past continuous. This is what you need to focus on.

The textbook does not say that only the second version is correct, by the way. Answer keys are supposed to provide you with the answers to the questions, not with every possible grammatical form.

 

[SoothingDave]

They were winning at halftime. They were winning until the second half. Halftime is not the event that changed their status.

 

[englishhobby]

They are both grammatically correct and natural, but knowing this doesn't help you identify the difference in use between past perfect and past continuous. This is what you need to focus on.

Unfortunately, I can't feel any difference between 'had been winning' and 'was winning' in the given sentences. :-( Is there any?

 

[jutfrank]

Yes, of course there's a difference. What do you already know about the uses of these two narrative tenses?

 

[englishhobby]

Yes, of course there's a difference. What do you already know about the uses of these two narrative tenses?

I know that we can use the past continuous to talk about:
a) some background action (which is not the case in the given example);
b) some action that was in progress at the moment of speaking (not the case either)
c) some period of time during which the action was in progress (I was reading from 5 to 6 yesterday). - I guess this meaning is implied here.


As for the past perfect continuous it is used to show that some action had been in progress before a certain moment in the past.


To be honest, I see no difference between the last use (c) of the past continuous and the use of the past perfect continuous. In both cases we have a certain time in the past up to which the action was going on (had been going on).