Select the option that has used the correct tense.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Explanation
The correct answer is option 3 i.e. By the time we arrived at the party, they had been waiting for over an hour.
Error concept:
What is wrong: The other options use incorrect tense forms or verb agreement.
Grammatical concept:
When referring to an action completed before another past action, we use past perfect tense for the earlier action and simple past tense for the later action.
Incorrectness of the concept in context:
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Option 1: “we arrive” – incorrect, should be simple past “we arrived” to match the past perfect.
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Option 3: “we arrives” – incorrect subject-verb agreement.
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Option 4: “we arriving” – incorrect continuous form; grammatically wrong here.
How to correct:
Use simple past for the later action and past perfect for the action that happened earlier.
Correct phrase/ correction:
By the time we arrived at the party, they had been waiting for over an hour.
Final sentence:
By the time we arrived at the party, they had been waiting for over an hour.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.