My father had been/was a high school teacher until 2011

hirashin · 21 Jun 2017

Dear native English speakers,

Would you help me again?
Which would be used?
(a) My father was a high school teacher until 2011.
(b) My father had been a high school teacher until 2011.
(c) My father taght in/at (a) high school until 2011.
(d) My father had taght in/at (a) high school until 2011.
(e) My father had been teaching in/at (a) high school until 2011.

Thanks in advance.
Hirashin

mdchachi · 21 Jun 2017

I think they are all viable.

hirashin · 21 Jun 2017

Oh, is that so? Thanks, madchachi. I've just noticed my typo. "taght" should be "taught".

OoTmaster · 21 Jun 2017

I agree they all seem viable to me.

joadbres · 21 Jun 2017

Grammatically, all are OK.
However, I would only use (a) and (c) when the point of reference is the present time. You should only use the past perfect tense, for example, ("had taught") when the point of reference is an earlier time than the present, such as when telling a story which is set in the past.
Ex: "The school burned down in 2012. My father had been teaching there until the year before."

hirashin · 22 Jun 2017

Thanks for the help, OoTmaster and joadbres.

joadbres said:
"The school burned down in 2012. My father had been teaching there until the year before."

How about this?
The school burned down in 2012. My father had been teaching there until then.

joadbres · 22 Jun 2017

hirashin said:
How about this?
The school burned down in 2012. My father had been teaching there until then.

Yes, that's fine.

hirashin · 22 Jun 2017

Thanks, joadbres.

My father had been/was a high school teacher until 2011

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