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If I want to express that I practiced my spoken English every day last summer, which of the following sentences is more appropriate?

  1. I practiced my spoken English throughout last summer.

  2. I was practicing my spoken English throughout last summer.

  3. I had been practicing my spoken English throughout last summer.

I though the 3rd one is probably the most proper one, but I'm not 100% sure.

Jasper
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Henry Wang
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    You need "practise" (verb), not "practice" (noun). The last sentence should begin "I have been practising..." They are all good. I like the first best because it is shortest. – Mick Sep 27 '16 at 01:31
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    The best is I practiced my spoken English every day last summer. It is superior to any of your examples, none of which specify the daily nature of the practice. Note that throughout last summer does not imply that you practiced daily, only that the practice took place during the whole of the summer. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Sep 27 '16 at 01:32
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    American English uses "practice" for both noun and verb forms. British English use is as previously noted. – Mick Sep 27 '16 at 01:36
  • @MickSharpe Sorry, sir. Your Brititude is showing. Increasingly generally, these days, there is no distinction between the spellings. OED has practise | practice, v. and even reaches back as far as 1500 CE for Bryan was a nother, with holton in the west; These were euer besy, cowde practice with þe best. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Sep 27 '16 at 01:37
  • @P.E.Dant - I know. Old habits die hard. Now where have I heard that before? – Mick Sep 27 '16 at 01:38
  • @P.E.Dant - Be a little kind, Sir. It's been half a century since I took an English class. – Mick Sep 27 '16 at 01:41
  • @MickSharpe No opprobrium attaches to Brititude in my lexicon, young man, and I can temporise with the best of them! – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Sep 27 '16 at 02:20
  • @P.E.Dant If I want to express that the practice took place during the whole of the summer, then which one is the best? – Henry Wang Sep 27 '16 at 02:35
  • @HenryWang Of the three options, the first is best, but it is not as good as the original I practiced my spoken English every day last summer. – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Sep 27 '16 at 02:42
  • @P.E.Dant Is the tense used in 3rd sentence appropriate? Does it mean that one of the major things I did last summer was practice my spoken English? – Henry Wang Sep 27 '16 at 02:57
  • @HenryWang No, it's not appropriate. There is no reason at all to use the past perfect here. the PP tells us nothing about whether or not the practice was important or major. Here is something to remember: Don't use the perfect unless you have to! – P. E. Dant Reinstate Monica Sep 27 '16 at 03:02

1 Answers1

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The "most appropriate" way is none of the three, but the way you yourself used in the question:

I practiced my spoken English every day last summer.

We usually use the simple past in this context. Probably every kid in the United States had (simple past} to write an essay every fall entitled "What I did last summer" or maybe "this past summer". Anyway notice the simple past did.

In addition, throughout last summer is not s construction I've used or encountered much: every day last summer is idiomatic.

Alan Carmack
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