"Wore" or "Was wearing"

DannySherbet · Aug 19, 2010

I suspect this will be obvious to the more experienced writers on here, but, without wishing to appear like a complete novice, please can someone tell me which of these is correct (third party, past tense).

'He looked at the girl. She was wearing a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

or

'He looked at the girl. She wore a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

Thanks. Danny.

scarletpeaches · Aug 19, 2010

Both are technically correct, but 'was wearing' is a form of the verb to be, which is frowned on if it's used too much. Purely from a stylistic point of view, I'd go for 'wore'.

Maryn · Aug 19, 2010

Either is correct. "Was wearing" is the past progressive tense, for something which took place and continued. Usually it's best reserved for contrasting an ongoing activity with one that took place at the same time and is in straight past tense.

Examples:
Maryn was shucking a dozen ears of corn when the power failed. (My shucking was a continuous activity taking place when another action occurred.)
Maryn was writing her reply when Scarlet posted. (My writing was going on while Scarlet hit Post Quick Reply.)

Maryn, clear as mud

scarletpeaches · Aug 19, 2010

I bow to Maryn's wisdom. I knew there was a proper name for this, and 'past progressive' is it.

DannySherbet · Aug 19, 2010

scarletpeaches said:
Both are technically correct, but 'was wearing' is a form of the verb to be, which is frowned on if it's used too much. Purely from a stylistic point of view, I'd go for 'wore'.

Thank you. You've helped with a sentence I've been agonising over all day.

DannySherbet · Aug 19, 2010

Maryn said:
Either is correct. "Was wearing" is the past progressive tense, for something which took place and continued. Usually it's best reserved for contrasting an ongoing activity with one that took place at the same time and is in straight past tense.

Examples:
Maryn was shucking a dozen ears of corn when the power failed. (My shucking was a continuous activity taking place when another action occurred.)
Maryn was writing her reply when Scarlet posted. (My writing was going on while Scarlet hit Post Quick Reply.)

Maryn, clear as mud

Thank you.

Said The Sun · Aug 19, 2010

Oh neat. *Goes through entire MS looking for past progressive stances and makes sure they are applied correctly.*

Gotta love these AW women.

FennelGiraffe · Aug 19, 2010

scarletpeaches said:
Both are technically correct, but 'was wearing' is a form of the verb to be, which is frowned on if it's used too much. Purely from a stylistic point of view, I'd go for 'wore'.

Forms of to be used in the continuous/progressive tenses--is wearing, was wearing, has been wearing--are inoffensive. The bad rep comes from some other uses. The appropriate use of progressive tense is a separate issue.

Barber · Aug 19, 2010

I'd go with "was wearing". Unless of, course, she took it off before his very eyes, thus making the wearing past tense and not progressive past. She continued to wear this dress, right?

A lot of writers fear use of the word "was" because they learn early on that it's a hint of passive voice. Either way, you need to develop your own preferences from listening to others'. That one's mine.

RJK · Aug 31, 2010

Based on Maryn's "was wearing" definition, does that mean if she wore a flowery dress, I, somehow, got her out of it?

blacbird · Aug 31, 2010

I'd go with "wore" just because it's shorter and simpler. Your narrative is in past tense, and "wore" clearly denotes a continuing action.

Kenn · Aug 31, 2010

It would have to be wore if it was made from blue velvet.

Jamesaritchie · Aug 31, 2010

Either is correct, and either is just fine to use. Just be consistent.

Qbynewbie · Sep 20, 2010

DannySherbet said:
I suspect this will be obvious to the more experienced writers on here, but, without wishing to appear like a complete novice, please can someone tell me which of these is correct (third party, past tense).

'He looked at the girl. She was wearing a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

or

'He looked at the girl. She wore a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

Thanks. Danny.

I'm late to the party: one of the problems of being a newbie.

I agree that both are correct. However, I think that exact meaning conveyed by the two sentences is subtly different:

'He looked at the girl. She wore a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

This seems to indicate an action that occurred in the past and was done with quite quickly. He looked at her, saw that she wore a flowery dress, and moved on.

'He looked at the girl. She was wearing a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

The use of the past progressive here implies a lingering of the action. He looked at her long enough to see that she was wearing a flowery dress and some sunglasses. To my mind, in this case, he continues to look at her with at least some kind of interest, consistent with the ongoing nature of "was wearing".

claws2 · Sep 21, 2010

Qbynewbie said:
I'm late to the party: one of the problems of being a newbie.

I agree that both are correct. However, I think that exact meaning conveyed by the two sentences is subtly different:

'He looked at the girl. She wore a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

This seems to indicate an action that occurred in the past and was done with quite quickly. He looked at her, saw that she wore a flowery dress, and moved on.

'He looked at the girl. She was wearing a flowery dress and some sunglasses.'

The use of the past progressive here implies a lingering of the action. He looked at her long enough to see that she was wearing a flowery dress and some sunglasses. To my mind, in this case, he continues to look at her with at least some kind of interest, consistent with the ongoing nature of "was wearing".

If you wanted to show that his look was a lingering type, then wouldn't that be an argument for the below sentence?

He was looking at the girl.

And whether he "looked" or "was looking," the girl would still be wearing her dress (I assume). The narrative to show that the girl was wearing, or still wearing, her dress could be expressed with either she "wore" or "was wearing," as in this instance, I'd think that both phrases would have the same connotation (in the sample sentence, and without its surrounding context).

imo.

P.S. This thread is kinda old -- 3 weeks old -- and old threads are usually kinda allowed to gently fade into the night (or something like that).

"Wore" or "Was wearing"

DannySherbet

Wellversed in procrastination.

scarletpeaches

Maryn

At Sea

scarletpeaches

DannySherbet

Wellversed in procrastination.

DannySherbet

Wellversed in procrastination.

Said The Sun

foremost, for prose

FennelGiraffe

It's green they say

Barber

Timing is everything...

RJK

Sheriff Bullwinkle the Poet says:

blacbird

Kenn

New kid, be gentle!

Jamesaritchie

Qbynewbie

New but not a kid anymore :)

claws2