Question

Give the correct verb form : Until he _________ (join) the office, he _________ (not go) outside his city.

• A. joined, has not gone
• B. had joined, had not gone
• C. has joined, had not gone
• D. joined, had not gone

Answer 1

Answer:

D. joined, had not gone

Understanding Past Tenses in Sequence

• This question tests the correct usage of past perfect and simple past tenses when describing a sequence of events in the past.
• Past Perfect Tense: Used for an action that was completed before another action or a specific time in the past. The structure is had + past participle.
• Simple Past Tense: Used for an action that happened and was completed at a specific time in the past, or for actions that occurred sequentially in the past. The structure is the past form of the verb.

Applying the Tenses to the Sentence:

• The sentence describes two past events: joining the office and not going outside the city.
• The action of not going outside the city occurred over a period of time *before* the action of joining the office.
• Therefore, the past perfect tense ('had not gone') is used for the action that happened first and continued until the second action occurred.
• The action of joining the office happened *after* the period of not going outside the city. Thus, the simple past tense ('joined') is used for this subsequent action.

Key Takeaways for Exams:

• When two past actions are involved, and one happened before the other, use the past perfect for the earlier action and the simple past for the later action.
• Look for time conjunctions like 'until', 'before', 'after', 'when', which often indicate the sequence of past events.
• Example structure: 'Until [Simple Past], [Past Perfect]' or '[Past Perfect] until [Simple Past]'.