did vs was doing vs had been doing

[ostap77]

1)"What did your son do before he enrolled in a community college?"

OR

2)"What was your son doing before he enrolled in a community college?"

OR

3)"What had your son been doing before he enrolled in a community college?"

Would it be acceptable and natural to substitute the first sentence for 2) or 3) in conversation to sound informal?

 

[5jj]

1)"What did your son do before he enrolled in a community college?"
2)"What was your son doing before he enrolled in a community college?"
3)"What had your son been doing before he enrolled in a community college?"

It's not really a matter of informality. In practical terms there is not a great deal of difference between those three utterances.

 

[ostap77]

It's not really a matter of informality. In practical terms there is not a great deal of difference between those three utterances.

I guess the third utterance is less likely to be heard from a speaker on the streets.?