when I was enjoying/had been enjoying

[99bottles]

'I thought that everything was the way it had used to be, when I was enjoying/had been enjoying my life carefreely. Unfortunately, nothing could be as/like before'.

1. The 'enjoy carefreely' is referring to 'the way it had used to be', but I'm not sure which is the right tense. Logically, it must be past perfect continuous, but the 'had been enjoying' sounds confusing and my intuition says past continuous is better.

2. Also, I'm not sure whether 'as' or 'like' is better in the second sentence.

 

[GoesStation]

Don't use carefreely. It doesn't exist in the vocabulary of most native speakers.

Had used to is not natural in American English. We'd just say used to there. I'm not sure about other varieties.

The final sentence would be less unnatural with as than like, but it doesn't work for me either way.

 

[99bottles]

Don't use carefreely. It doesn't exist in the vocabulary of most native speakers.

Had used to is not natural in American English. We'd just say used to there. I'm not sure about other varieties.

The final sentence would be less unnatural with as than like, but it doesn't work for me either way.

So, except just telling me what not to do, does anybody have any suggestions about how I should write the above?

 

[jutfrank]

To all members

Could you all please desist from wasting time with your useful advice and helpful suggestions and other wisecracks and just tell 99bottles what he wants to hear, already!

There's a great novel at stake here.

 

[99bottles]

To all members

Could you all please desist from wasting time with your useful advice and helpful suggestions and other wisecracks and just tell 99bottles what he wants to hear, already!

There's a great novel at stake here.

That was uncalled for. The guy just told me what not to do. Useful but not enough. I also need someone to tell me what to do. How should I write the two sentences in the OP if, as Goesstation says, neither is natural?

 

[GoesStation]

99, I actually noticed as I was writing it that I wasn't providing any overt positive guidance in my post #2. If you read the second paragraph carefully, you will see that I hinted at a way to improve the bit I was writing about: remove the word had.

I didn't propose alternatives because I just didn't have the energy at the time. May I suggest you review my comments and consider them as you rewrite the text?

 

[99bottles]

99, I actually noticed as I was writing it that I wasn't providing any overt positive guidance in my post #2. If you read the second paragraph carefully, you will see that I hinted at a way to improve the bit I was writing about: remove the word had.

I didn't propose alternatives because I just didn't have the energy at the time. May I suggest you review my comments and consider them as you rewrite the text?

So, I should write: 'I thought that everything was the way it used to be, when I was enjoying my life with no worries'.
But, isn't this confusing? If there are two pasts (the past the story events take place and another, more distant one), how will the reader know which past is which?
As for the second sentence, I did not press you to answer it fully. I just said 'Ok, now I'm waiting for someone else to tell me how I should write it'.

 

[GoesStation]

So, I should write: 'I thought that everything was the way it used to be, back when I was enjoying my life with no worries'.
But, isn't this confusing? If there are two pasts (the past the story events take place and another, more distant one), how will the reader know which past is which?

Americans will often say back when, as I've indicated above, to shift the time frame of the next phrase a little further into the past. I think I've heard British English speakers do the same but I'm not completely sure.