Learn English – she had been working / she had worked

past-perfect

I'm really curious what difference do native speakers conceive in these two sentences:

(She joined our firm ten years ago.)
She had worked for the previous five years with an advertising company. vs.
She had been working for the previous five years with an advertising company.

These are sentences taken from a book with grammar exercises and the key gives these two options. Is there any difference in the meaning?

Best Answer

...had worked...

This is in the past perfect tense.

...had been working...

This is in the past perfect continuous tense. The latter means she had been working continuously with an advertising company for the past 5 years. The first does not necessarily mean her work with the advertising company was uninterrupted over the five years.

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