Question

That red car ________ (to belong) to Jim for 3 years before he _______ (to sell) it. had belonged / sold belonged / sold 1. According to the meaning it would be correct to use the Past Perfect Continuous for the first part because it is obviously important for the speaker to emphasize the duration of the process here: for 3 years. But we remember that non-continuous verbs cannot be used with '-ing'. So it is correct to choose the Past Perfect Tense. 2. We use the Past Simple for completed actions in the past. 2

Accepted Answer

1 had been belonging / sold had belonged / had sold past tenses

Task	That red car ________ (to belong) to Jim for 3 years before he _______ (to sell) it.
Answer	1
a	had belonged / sold
b	had been belonging / sold
c	belonged / sold
d	had belonged / had sold
comment	1. According to the meaning it would be correct to use the Past Perfect Continuous for the first part because it is obviously important for the speaker to emphasize the duration of the process here: for 3 years. But we remember that non-continuous verbs cannot be used with '-ing'. So it is correct to choose the Past Perfect Tense. 2. We use the Past Simple for completed actions in the past.
topic	past tenses
level	2

Sold Past Belonged Correct Perfect Red Car Belong