Standard English ConventionsVery hardPast perfect for the earlier of two past events in a complex sentence
Standard English Conventions practice question
By the time the county engineer arrived, the villagers ____ the bridge with sandbags and moved the livestock to higher ground.
Which choice completes the text so that it conforms to the conventions of Standard English?
- A. had already shored upCorrect
- B. have already shored up
- C. already shore up
- D. were already shoring up
Answer: A. had already shored up
The shoring was complete before the arrival, itself a past event: past perfect, matching 'moved'.
Why the other answers are wrong
- B. have already shored up
- Present perfect clashes with the past-tense 'arrived'.
- C. already shore up
- Present tense clashes with 'arrived'.
- D. were already shoring up
- Progressive suggests the work was still going on, but 'moved' shows it was finished.
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