Sentence Correction

Consider the sentence-
The patient (had died / died) before the doctor (reached / had reached)

While I know that it can't be "had reached", I want to understand what is wrong in the sentence-
The patient died before the doctor reached.

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.

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. ???

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. ???

Yes, with a clear sequence of past events, the earlier action becomes past perfect and the later action is simple past.