Which one of these sentence is grammatically correct ?
I had been listening to his songs since childhood
I have been listening to his songs since childhood
grammar
Which one of these sentence is grammatically correct ?
I had been listening to his songs since childhood
I have been listening to his songs since childhood
Best Answer
They can both be correct. It depends on the context. Here is how:
..when he released the album "The Wind", which quickly became my favorite.
..when he changed his style, which was hard for me to understand.
..when I met him, and I didn't know what to say.
"Had been" is used to express the past tense when something else happens. With "had been", since needs to have a finish, or end-point. Since you start the sentence with "I", you need to finish the thought with how it affects you.
"Have been" is also used to express the past tense, but where the context is now. "Since" does not require closure if the conclusion of "since" is "now, at this moment". But if you add another part to the sentence, like the above examples, so you would finish the sentence with your position now.
Just for completeness, there is another important version of the past tense, the "simple past":
This does not require any followup. The choice depends on the context where you are placing the idea.