Is This Sentence Correct: Her Breasts Were Sagging?

Is the sentence “Her breasts were sagging.” grammatically correct?

Grammatical Correctness

Yes, the sentence “Her breasts were sagging.” is grammatically correct. It is a perfectly valid statement, using the simple past continuous tense to describe a temporary physical change or condition. While simple in form, it is perfectly acceptable and can be used in the right context.

The Use of “Tits” in the US

In the United States, the term “tits” is commonly used, especially in casual or informal contexts. For example, someone might say “Her tits were sagging.” This is often considered more colloquial and less formal than “Her breasts were sagging.” If you are writing in a more formal or professional context, it’s advisable to use the more standard and polite term, “breasts.”

Contextual Appropriateness of Continuous Tenses

Continuous tenses, such as the past continuous, are often used to describe ongoing actions or temporary conditions. While they can indeed describe temporary actions, they can also be used to highlight a change or contrast in a situation that happened at a specific time. For example, saying, “Charlie normally wins at poker but last night he was losing.” Here, the continuous tense emphasizes the temporary nature of Charlie’s loss.

The sentence “Her breasts were sagging” can be used contextually in different ways:

Describing a Temporary Condition or Change

For instance, if you are talking about a specific scenario where you encountered a woman who normally looks fit but now appears to have changed, you might say,

Molly was a trim young woman in university but when I saw her last week her breasts were sagging and her stomach was bulging.

This sentence illustrates a change in Molly’s physical appearance, contrasting her previous fit appearance with her current state.

Describing a Long-Term Change

You can also use the continuous tense to describe a change that happened over a longer period of time. For example,

As a young woman Molly was fit but in later years her breasts were sagging and her muscles were getting flabby.

Here, the continuous tense is used to depict a gradual change in Molly’s physical state over the years.

Using the Simple Past Tense

If you didn’t know the woman before or the information is more general and not specific to a recent moment, you might say,

The artist's model in my class last week was a woman in her forties. Her breasts sagged and her belly bulged a bit.

In this sentence, the simple past tense is used to describe a general condition rather than a temporary or ongoing action.

Note, however, that for most purposes, you would simply say “She had sagging breasts.” Regardless of whether you knew the woman or not, this construction is more common and direct, emphasizing the permanent nature of the condition.

Conclusion

In summary, the sentence “Her breasts were sagging.” is grammatically correct and can be used in various contexts, from describing a temporary change in a specific situation to highlighting a long-term physical change. While the choice of words like “tits” or “breasts” depends on the formality of the context, the continuous tense can be appropriate for emphasizing changes or contrasts.