[Grammar] tense: inmates led/had led imprisoned lives long before they became inamates

[LaMelange]

Hello teachers,

In the following text, is the tense in bold correct, or should it be had led?

Also, would had been leading/were leading be wrong?

Could you please provide some explanation? It would be of great help.

"Women's prison, women in prison, and women's imprisonment" is the starting point of the introduction of this book. Reflecting upon the nuances that transpire from the different phrasing of a similar expression, we realize that inmates in Odemira somehow already led imprisoned lives long before they became inmates.

(Again, I do not have the source for this text. A friend of mine wanted help with this sentence, but as I was unsure, I just advised the person to query the author.)

Thank you very much for your patience!

 

[Rover_KE]

You can suggest to your friend that they register for the forum and ask their own questions with sources for quoted text.

For various reasons we are reluctant to answer questions for third parties.

 

[LaMelange]

OK. I understand.