HOTS English Primary 4 Grammar

Choose the grammatically correct sentence that also makes the MOST logical sense. A: "By the time the fire engines arrived, the flames extinguished the entire warehouse." B: "By the time the fire engines arrived, the flames had already extinguished the entire warehouse." C: "By the time the fire engines arrived, the flames have extinguished the entire warehouse." D: "By the time the fire engines arrived, the flames were extinguishing the entire warehouse."

A B
B A
C C
D D
Show Worked Solution

Worked Solution

Step 1: Identify the time structure — "By the time X (past action), Y had already happened". Step 2: When one past action is COMPLETED before another past action, use past perfect (had + past participle) for the earlier action. Step 3: "The flames had already extinguished the entire warehouse" = past perfect, correctly placed BEFORE the arrival of the fire engines. Answer: B

Correct answer: B

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