Standard English ConventionsHardPast perfect for the earlier of two past events
Standard English Conventions practice question
By the time the fire engine arrived, the villagers ____ the blaze with buckets from the pond.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. had put outCorrect
- B. put out
- C. have put out
- D. putting out
Answer: A. had put out
The blaze was out before the engine arrived, so the earlier past event takes the past perfect.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. put out
- Simple past doesn't show which event came first; 'by the time' calls for the past perfect.
- C. have put out
- Present perfect doesn't sit before a past event.
- D. putting out
- 'Putting out' leaves no finite verb.
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