Which of the sentences below are grammatically correct?
- The couple had been engaged for five years when they married.
- The couple had been engaged for five years when they were married.
- The couple had been engaged for five years when they had married.
Only (1) sounds correct to me, but I am unable to explain why (2) and (3) are grammatically wrong.
Best Answer
The first two are grammatical. In the first, married is the past tense of marry, and is here used intransitively.
In the second, they were married is a passive construction, and married is the past participle of marry. Although it is passive, the agent is not mentioned, but we can reasonably assume that they were married by a priest, or by a government official.
The third is ungrammatical because the past perfect construction describes a past event that precedes another. It is clear in this case that the wedding took place only after they had been engaged, and not before.