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The flowers were watered when you came



 
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ESL Forum | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
Please clear my confusion about 'will' and 'shall' | Each judge is asked to state which glass he most enjoyed.
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The flowers were watered when you came #1 (permalink) Wed Feb 08, 2012 17:58 pm   The flowers were watered when you came
 

Hello!
The sentence: "The flowers were watered when you came." is correct? or maybe the better option would be: "The flowers were being watered when you came."?
Thank you for your time and support!
Antonella25
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Joined: 06 Sep 2010
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The flowers were watered when you came #2 (permalink) Wed Feb 08, 2012 21:57 pm   The flowers were watered when you came
 

(1) "The flowers were watered when you came" is the passive of "We watered the flowers when you came." In other words, you came at 3 p.m. And we started to water the flowers at 3 p.m.

(2) "The flowers were being watered whern you came" is the passive of "We were watering the flowers when you came." In other words, we started to water at 2:45 p.m. When you arrived at 3 p.m., you saw us already watering the flowers.
James M
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The flowers were watered when you came #3 (permalink) Wed Feb 08, 2012 23:14 pm   The flowers were watered when you came
 

When I read "The flowers were watered when you came", my first thought was that watered was being used as an adjective, so the sentence meant "The flowers were already watered when you came". It can of course also mean James M's explanation 1, but be aware of the possible confusion.
Luschen
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The flowers were watered when you came #4 (permalink) Thu Feb 09, 2012 1:09 am   The flowers were watered when you came
 

Thank you a lot for explanations!
Antonella25
I'm here quite often ;-)


Joined: 06 Sep 2010
Posts: 359

The flowers were watered when you came #5 (permalink) Thu Feb 09, 2012 11:45 am   The flowers were watered when you came
 

And thank YOU for your kind note.
James M
I'm here quite often ;-)


Joined: 15 May 2011
Posts: 573

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Please clear my confusion about 'will' and 'shall' | Each judge is asked to state which glass he most enjoyed.
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