before expert reply

[arghya05]

Before John won the lottery, he was a poor locksmith.
A) won the lottery, he was a poor locksmith.
B) had won the lottery, he was a poor locksmith.
C) won the lottery, he had been a poor locksmith.
D) won the lottery, he were a poor locksmith.
E) wins the lottery, he was a poor locksmith.

in different forums i have found that before can be linked with simple past or past perfect
so a can be answer

[VivianKerr]

Make sure you post all SC questions in the SC forum. This is the RC forum.

Usually when we use "before", we can get away with simple past tense since the MEANING of the sentence is clear.

EX: Before I did my homework, I went to the store.

It's clear that I went to the store BEFORE I did my homework, so there is no need to clarify with past perfect.

But let's look at the meaning here. John worked as a locksmith for a period of time BEFORE he "won." Since he was a locksmith for a period of time, meaning he worked as a locksmith UNTIL he won the lottery, the past perfect would be nice to clarify. If the event in the furthest past spanned a period of time, use the past perfect.

IMO: C

[sunnyjohn]

That is a nice explanation...I got it until A and C and then choose A because of "before".