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Past perfect tense help

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by deepak_free » Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:35 am
Please see the two sentences below

The first United States Solicitor General, Benjamin H. Bristow, [b]born in 1832 and served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow had served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry.[/b]
A) born in 1832 and served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow had served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry
B) was born in 1832 and had served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow served as a lieutenant colonel
C) born in 1832 and appointee in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1875. Earlier in his life, Bristow served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry
D) was born in 1832 and served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow had served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry
E) was born in 1832 and served in the Grant administration from 1874 to 1876. Earlier in his life, Bristow served as a lieutenant colonel in the 25th Kentucky Infantry

[b]Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she had been [/b]an anonymous translator and essayist of formidably far-ranging scholarship.
A. Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist known as George Eliot, she had been
B. Before she had been the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot, she was
C. George Eliot has been the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot, after such time as she was
D. Before George Eliot became the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot, she was
E. George Eliot, before she was the popular and respected novelist, George Eliot, had been


I am sorry guys I tried a lot but spoiler is not working on my comp

In the first one OA [spoiler]E[/spoiler] explanation says "earlier" is used hence no need to have past perfect
In the second one OA[spoiler]A[/spoiler] I think we should be going for D

Experts please help
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Source: — Sentence Correction |
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by viju9162 » Tue Jul 06, 2010 12:08 am
First one

Let's look the S-V-O agreement for the sentence. You can eliminate A and C

In B, you don't need had served, because he can't serve before he was born :).

Between D and E, why do you need had served in the second sentence. There is also action the sentence is talking about. Hence, arrive for E

Second One

For this one, Before George Eliot became popular, she was an anonymous translator. A only suits for this structure.

George was an anonymous translator - previous action in the past
George became popular - later she became popular - simple past
"Native of" is used for a individual while "Native to" is used for a large group
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by Ritwik » Tue Jul 06, 2010 5:23 am
First one, there is no dependency in two sentences. Ask what earlier refers to 'Earlier' in 'Earlier in life'. Was it before he was born or before he served. None. It means that during his early career he served as blah blah.

Second one needs that time-dependency tp create a logical sentence and hence 'had' is used.
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by paddle_sweep » Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:08 am
Guys, I am not clear about the explanation for the second one.

Could somebody explain how 'A' is correct and 'D' is incorrect?

Cheers
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by nibake » Tue Jul 06, 2010 6:58 am
@paddle_sweep

The past perfect tense is required when we describe something that happened previous to another past event. Another was to think of it is as "past of the past." The simple past tense won't do in the example you mention, made obvious by the word "before."
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by sumanr84 » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:06 am
Please follow Forum rules:-
1. One question per thread
2. First do a search and if the problem exists and you don't understand the soln then open the same thread
3. Use spoilers to hide the answers

Coming back to Q1. The sentence looked awkward at first glance, so I did some search and below is what I found,

RonPurewal wrote : https://www.manhattangmat.com/forums/the ... t7500.html
wow, this is a HORRIBLE problem.

first of all, every single one of the choices takes the form of TWO sentences, a pattern that NEVER EVER occurs on the test. (ALL sentence correction problems, and ALL answer choices, are single sentences.)

also, the whole writing of this sentence is ridiculous. the first part starts off with the guy's BIRTH, and then the second part says "earlier in his life...". this is of course absurd, since it's impossible to go earlier in life than someone's birth.

--

run away from this source as fast as you can. and don't look back
I am on a break !!
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