Identify the sentence that correctly uses the past perfect tense to establish the sequence of two past events:
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. By the time the symposium commenced, the keynote speaker had arrived in Kuwait City.
- Step 1: The past perfect tense ('had + past participle') is used to describe an action completed prior to another past action or reference point.
- Step 2: Here, the keynote speaker's arrival occurred before the symposium commenced.
- Step 3: Therefore, 'had arrived' properly designates the earlier action, while 'commenced' designates the subsequent past action.
Answer
By the time the symposium commenced, the keynote speaker had arrived in Kuwait City.
Why not the others: Sentence 2 uses simple past for both actions, weakening the clear temporal sequence; Sentence 3 incorrectly places past perfect on the later event and present perfect on the earlier event; Sentence 4 mixes present tense ('commences') with past perfect ('had arrived').
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