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Kasia@MasterGMAT wrote:The sentence "The patient died before the doctor reached." is seen as incorrect according to the GMAT standards, although it might be perceived as correct in common usage.
The basic meanings of the past perfect are "earlier past" and "completed in the past." A common use is to "go back" when we are already talking about the past, so as to make clear that something had already happened at the time we are talking about.
e.g. As soon as I had put the phone down it rang again.
Yes, with a clear sequence of past events, the earlier action becomes past perfect and the later action is simple past.jimmyjimmy wrote:Kasia@MasterGMAT wrote:The sentence "The patient died before the doctor reached." is seen as incorrect according to the GMAT standards, although it might be perceived as correct in common usage.
The basic meanings of the past perfect are "earlier past" and "completed in the past." A common use is to "go back" when we are already talking about the past, so as to make clear that something had already happened at the time we are talking about.
e.g. As soon as I had put the phone down it rang again.
so it should be
the patient had died, before the doctor reached. ???
