had soon been

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "had soon been" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to indicate that something happened shortly after a previous event in the past. Example: "The project had soon been completed after the team received the necessary resources."

✓ Grammatically correct

News & Media

Science

Wiki

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

6 human-written examples

But she said she had soon been swamped with bills that left her $70,000 to $80,000 in debt.

The New York Times - Health

Turner was the first Republican in ninety years to win the district, which sprawled through stretches of Brooklyn and Queens, and he had soon been made a lame duck by a redistricting battle that was settled in the courts.

The New Yorker

She had been married by arrangement to K.K., her first cousin, at seventeen, and had soon been eclipsed as he moved into the larger world of the Indian Civil Service, a world defined by English mores and manners.

The New Yorker

A feature of the K4 that had soon been abandoned by the Pennsylvania Railroad was an unusual three-bar version of the Laird slide-bar.

Wikipedia

This made him a cause célèbre, and hours of his eclectic, freewheeling, evangelical YouTube lectures had soon been devoured by a predominantly young, male audience, rudderless amid the uncertainties unleashed by a new era of political correctness and changing sexual politics.

Vice

At that time these models had not been used in any behaving closed loop system and the early CL-models had soon been superceded by the highly influential method of "temporal difference learning" (TD-learning; Sutton 1988) by which CL-methods essentially died out and became replaced by RL-approaches to which TD-learning belongs.

Biological Cybernetics

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

54 human-written examples

And events would have soon been on his side.

The Guardian - Opinion

Molner resigned after 32 Kh3 because he would have soon been checkmated.

The New York Times

Without this intervention, I have no doubt she would have soon been back on the ward.

The Guardian

Aronian then blundered by playing 35 Qh2, and he resigned after 38... Qf3, as he would have soon been checkmated.

The New York Times

Trump was replacing an acting attorney general who would have soon been replaced with one of his appointees anyway.

HuffPost

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "had soon been", ensure that the preceding context clearly establishes the initial event or situation to which the phrase refers. This provides clarity and avoids ambiguity for the reader.

Common error

Avoid using "had soon been" when the context requires a simple past tense or a present perfect tense. This phrase specifically denotes a rapid sequence of past events, so ensure its proper use for accurate tense consistency.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "had soon been" functions as a past perfect continuous construction, indicating that an action or state occurred shortly after a preceding event in the past. Ludwig examples confirm its usage in describing sequences of events.

Expression frequency: Uncommon

Frequent in

News & Media

43%

Science

43%

Wiki

14%

Less common in

Formal & Business

0%

Academia

0%

Encyclopedias

0%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, the phrase "had soon been" functions as a past perfect continuous construction, denoting a rapid sequence of past events. According to Ludwig, it's grammatically correct and best used to narrate events that closely follow each other in time. While its usage spans across news, science, and wiki sources, it's less common in extremely formal or casual settings. When using this phrase, ensure the initial event is clearly established to avoid ambiguity. Alternatives such as "quickly became" or "shortly was" can be used depending on the desired emphasis.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

immediately was

Emphasizes the absence of delay between the initial state and subsequent state.

quickly became

Replaces "had soon been" with a shorter, more direct expression of a rapid transition.

swiftly became

Highlights the speed at which something transitioned into a new state after a prior condition.

shortly was

Substitutes "had soon been" with a phrase emphasizing the brief time frame before the event.

promptly became

Indicates that something transitioned to a different state without delay.

rapidly turned into

Emphasizes a swift transformation or evolution after a starting point in the past.

was quickly transformed into

Replaces the original phrase with a more vivid and emphatic expression of a quick change.

quickly evolved into

Emphasizes a fast-paced evolution after a starting point in the past.

not long after turned

Uses a more descriptive phrase to express a transformation happening shortly after a starting point in the past.

became shortly thereafter

Inverts the structure while maintaining the meaning of a quick transition.

FAQs

How can I use "had soon been" in a sentence?

The phrase "had soon been" indicates that something happened shortly after a previous event in the past. For example, "The rain started, and the streets "had soon been" flooded."

What is a similar phrase to "had soon been"?

Alternatives to "had soon been" include phrases like "quickly became", "shortly was", or "rapidly turned into", depending on the specific context.

Is there a difference between "had soon been" and "was soon"?

"Had soon been" implies a sequence of events in the past, while "was soon" indicates something that happened quickly in the past. "Had soon been" is used when referring to a prior event that influenced the situation. For example, "The ice melted and "had soon been" turned into a lake", meaning that it was first ice and only then turned into a lake.

Which is more appropriate, "had soon been" or "was soon to be"?

"Had soon been" is used for events that have already occurred in sequence, while "was soon to be" refers to events expected to happen shortly. Use "had soon been" when describing completed actions in the past. For example, "The game started and the match "had soon been" won by England".