They killed their parents but it was to escape the violence ...

[aquamarine_]

I was discussing online about a tv show I’ve been watching lately and I replied to a user with “they killed their parents but it was to escape the violence they were going through” and later I wondered whether I should have used a different tense, like “…but it was to escape the violence they had been going through” or not.
Context is a true crime series where the two protagonists killed their parents after years of abuse (which was still ongoing when the parents got killed, and that’s why I thought of past perfect continuous)

Not a native, sorry for the complex explanation

 

[emsr2d2]

I was discussing (online) about a tv TV show I’ve been watching lately and I replied to a user with “They killed their parents but it was to escape the violence they were going through”. and Later, I wondered whether I should have used a different tense, like "... space after an ellipsis but it was to escape the violence they had been going through”. or not.
Context: it is a true crime series where the two protagonists killed their parents after years of abuse (which was still ongoing when the parents got killed, and that’s why I thought of the past perfect continuous).

I'm not a native English speaker. Sorry for the complex explanation.

Welcome to the forum.
Please note my corrections above.
We don't "discuss about something". We "discuss something".
Make sure you write complete sentences.
Always use a full stop at the end of a sentence, not a comma. Study "comma splices".

If it's certain that the abuse was ongoing at the time of the double murder, then "... they were going through" is OK.

 

[aquamarine_]

Oh, so “…they had been going through” is incorrect? Or it has a different meaning? I can’t wrap my head around it.

 

[emsr2d2]

Oh, so is “…they had been going through” is incorrect no question mark here or does it has have a different meaning? I can’t wrap my head around it.

Note my corrections above. You need to learn the correct way to formulate a question. Also, don't try to start a sentence with "or". Write one sentence, as "Is it XXX or YYY?", not "Is it XXX? Or YYY?"

The present perfect isn't incorrect - it does indicate the abuse "had been going on up to the point that the murders were committed". To be honest, I'd struggle to choose between the two but my preference would be for the simple past.

 

[aquamarine_]

Note my corrections above. You need to learn the correct way to formulate a question. Also, don't try to start a sentence with "or". Write one sentence, as "Is it XXX or YYY?", not "Is it XXX? Or YYY?"

The present perfect isn't incorrect - it does indicate the abuse "had been going on up to the point that the murders were committed". To be honest, I'd struggle to choose between the two but my preference would be for the simple past.

Thank you for all the corrections

 

[emsr2d2]

Thank you for all the corrections.

An emoticon/emoji is not a replacement for closing punctuation. I made this same correction in post #2 but apparently you didn't notice. Look carefully at all our corrections and comments. You can, if you wish, use an emoji but it comes after closing punctuation (full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.