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About sunset, the sky darkened, winds strengthened, and a low rumble indicated the premonsoon showers.
Incorrect: Yesterday we had walked to school but later rode the bus home.
had walked is past perfect and rode is past simple. Both these events need to maintain consistency in tense.
The time frame in this context is of yesterday. Hence, both verbs need to be in the simple past to be
consistent within this time frame.
Correct: Yesterday we walked to school but later rode the bus home.
Change the tense to indicate a change in time frame from one action or state to another.
Correct: Even before the election took place, he had started behaving like a minister.
Correct: The students are studying extra hours because they know that this years test will be very
difficult.
It is not possible to say that the use of a particular tense/form is wrong in isolation. The errors in tense have
to be found only in the context of the events mentioned in the sentence. For example, She was listening
attentively, or She has been listening attentively are not different from each other in isolation, but only in
relation to another event that has to be mentioned. In competitive examinations sentences, where you have
to deal with an error in tense, will always have two events at least. In relation to one the other may not be
consistent in the given time frame.
Incorrect: It was we who arrived before they had left.
Correct: It was we who had arrived before they left.
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