she's going to miss the game she was/has been driving to

EngLearner

Member
Joined
May 13, 2023
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Ukrainian
Home Country
Ukraine
Current Location
Ukraine
I provided the following context for one of my earlier questions:

A girl's car breaks down. She realizes that because of that she's going to miss the game she was driving to, so she calls her friend and leaves her a voice message: "Megan! What the hell? Okay, my car broke down, I'm in the middle of nowhere, and I'm totally going to miss the game, so call me back. Okay? Thank you."

At the time of speaking, the girl has stepped out of the car, and she's no longer driving. I wonder if I used "she was driving" correctly, and I also wonder if "she's been driving" can be used in place of "she was driving" in this context.
 
Don't use "she's been driving" in this scenario. Your use of "she was driving to" is OK but it's a little unnatural. I'd rewrite the whole thing and make it shorter.

Sarah's car broke down on the way to a football/baseball/netball/volleyball game. She left a message on her friend's voicemail, saying "Megan! What the hell?! ..."

The fact that she's driving to a game is clear from "broke down on the way to ...". The fact that she's going to miss the game is clear from the contents of the voicemail message.
 
Here's another example that I wrote:

Suppose team A plays against team B, and team B wins. Shortly after the game, when people who were watching it are beginning to leave the stadium, someone in the crowd says: "Team A played well, but they lost because team B has better players with more astute tactics.".

The same is true here: "were watching" is appropriate whereas "have been watching" isn't. Am I right?
 
Back
Top