Sentence Correction

When he had swum across the lake, he lay down on the far shore and relaxed in the sunshine until he was thoroughly dry.

The past perfect form is used when we need to specify the sequence in which the events happened in the past. But in this case, the order in which swimming, laying and relaxing took place is clear by itself. So do we need to use the past perfect form "had swum" instead of the simple past "swam",which is used in the sentence below.

When he swam across the lake, he lay down on the far shore and relaxed in the sunshine until he was thoroughly dry.

Please explain.

"When he had swum across the lake, he lay down on the far shore and relaxed in the sunshine until he was thoroughly dry. " This implies the swimming happened, and then he lay down and relaxed.

"When he swam across the lake, he lay down on the far shore and relaxed in the sunshine until he was thoroughly dry. " The sequence is unclear. He lay down and relaxed at the time he swam across the lake? "After he swam across the lake, he lay down ..." That makes the sequence clear.

Hi fcabanski,


Let's change "When" to "after" to make sequence clear.So, can we use simple past in this case??

"AFTER he swam across the lake, he lay down on the far shore and relaxed in the sunshine until he was thoroughly dry. "

Actually even after the after, GMAT does often make it explicit by using a past perfect:

Less successful after she emigrated to New York than she had been in her native Germany, photographer Lotte Jacobi nevertheless earned a small group of discerning admirers, and her photographs were eventually exhibited in prestigious galleries across the United States.

Having said that, if all answer choices use a simple past in such scenario, it would be a moot point. Would be curious to know if you have come across any such official question.

In the sentence you have quoted, if you have to avoid past perfect it can be articulated as:

After swimming across the lake, he lay down on the far shore and relaxed in the sunshine until he was thoroughly dry.

Yes, "after" makes the sequence clear.

Have you seen examples of this on GMAT?

Nope...if similar question(where sequence is clear) appears on G-DAY which option (past and past perfect) should one choose ?