The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that

[chitrangada.maitra]

Source: Gmat prep

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.
A. that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding
B. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding
C. that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded
D. the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding
E. the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding

OA: A

My Question is:

Is the 6th option that I have added below incorrect? If so, why?
Since the universe began before it started expanding, why can we not use the past perfect tense?

F. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding..

[james.jt.wu]

Hello,

To answer your question below, no F is not correct. In general, you should not use the past perfect when the simple past tense would do.

In this case, you have a construction that is past perfect + present perfect, when a construction that is past + present perfect (Option A) would suffice. The first construction already properly shows that the explosive instant precedes the expansion.

Hope this helps,

James

Source: Gmat prep

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.
A. that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding
B. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding
C. that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded
D. the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding
E. the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding

OA: A

My Question is:

Is the 6th option that I have added below incorrect? If so, why?
Since the universe began before it started expanding, why can we not use the past perfect tense?

F. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding..

[chitrangada.maitra]

Correct me if I am wrong!

Shouldn't past perfect be used for the action that took place earlier and simple past for the action that followed?

e.g. The show had started by the time we arrived

[james.jt.wu]

You are completely correct. However, this isn't how your sentence is constructed:

"F. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding.."

Here, we have two things happening:

A. Universe's beginning - This comes first
B. Universe's expansion - This comes second

The trick here is that Part B, as constructued, is using the present perfect tense (technically Part B's tense is present perfect progressive, but that's not important in this example), NOT the past tense! Therefore, the simple past tense will suffice in Part A, since simple past tense comes before a present perfect.

A. Universe's beginning - past tense
B. Universe's expansion - present perfect

Clearly, A comes before B. You should not use past perfect in Part A when the simple past tense would suffice.

The rule of the thumb is to stay away from complicated tense such as past perfect when simple tenses (such as present, past, and future) will suffice in properly displaying the sequence of events.

Hope this helps :) I can give you a few more examples if needed.

James


Here

Correct me if I am wrong!

Shouldn't past perfect be used for the action that took place earlier and simple past for the action that followed?

e.g. The show had started by the time we arrived

[james.jt.wu]

After re-reading your prompt, I think another point of clarification would help.

Here is your inquiry:

"Shouldn't past perfect be used for the action that took place earlier and simple past for the action that followed?"

This is true, but only if the past tense HAS to be used in the sentence! For example, if there is a past tense in the non-underlined portion of a SC question, and in the underlined portion you have an action that took place earlier, then yes, you need to choose the past perfect in most cases.

But, if you are just writing, say an email, you can use a variety of combination of tenses to two actions take place in different times...

For example -

1.) James took a shower yesterday, so he smells good today (past, present)
2.) James was sick yesterday, and he has been sick ever since. (past, present perfect)
3.) Bill had already arrived by the time James got to the game. (past perfect, past)


See how 1, 2, 3 all properly displays sequence of two events? Only 3 uses the past perfect + past construction.

Again, your rule applies ONLY if the sentence, as constructed, must have an action that takes place before a past tense.

You are completely correct. However, this isn't how your sentence is constructed:

"F. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding.."

Here, we have two things happening:

A. Universe's beginning - This comes first
B. Universe's expansion - This comes second

The trick here is that Part B, as constructued, is using the present perfect tense (technically Part B's tense is present perfect progressive, but that's not important in this example), NOT the past tense! Therefore, the simple past tense will suffice in Part A, since simple past tense comes before a present perfect.

A. Universe's beginning - past tense
B. Universe's expansion - present perfect

Clearly, A comes before B. You should not use past perfect in Part A when the simple past tense would suffice.

The rule of the thumb is to stay away from complicated tense such as past perfect when simple tenses (such as present, past, and future) will suffice in properly displaying the sequence of events.

Hope this helps :) I can give you a few more examples if needed.

James


Here

Correct me if I am wrong!

Shouldn't past perfect be used for the action that took place earlier and simple past for the action that followed?

e.g. The show had started by the time we arrived

[RonPurewal]

Source: Gmat prep

The widely accepted big-bang theory holds that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding ever since.
A. that the universe began in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding
B. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and had been expanding
C. that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded
D. the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding
E. the universe to have begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding

OA: A

My Question is:

Is the 6th option that I have added below incorrect? If so, why?
Since the universe began before it started expanding, why can we not use the past perfect tense?

F. that the universe had begun in an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago and has been expanding..

when you use the past perfect for POINT ACTIONS like this one (as opposed to ongoing actions), its used is restricted to point actions that have a direct bearing on some second past timeframe.
e.g.
Over half of the firm’s employees had left the building by the time the fire started.

note that "had left" is a point action, but is relevant to the action that specifies the second time frame ("started").
in this problem, there is no such second past time frame, so the use of the past perfect is inappropriate.

[chitrangada.maitra]

Thanks Ron, James!

Ron,

Just wanted to clarify - Is the first example that James provided correct?

1.) James took a shower yesterday, so he smells good today (past, present)

This sentence has a past action point with direct bearing on the present but does not use past perfect?

In which case, can I take it that the use of past perfect is optional?

Thanks,
Chitrangada

[james.jt.wu]

Hey there :)

Let me see if I can help you out. Sorry this is coming in a few days late. Work has been keeping me busy so not as much time to spend on the forums.

Ron's explanation above is fairly specific to the use of past perfect tense. To reiterate, in the instance that you DO use a past perfect, you MUST have another second related time frame that uses the PAST tense. This is a pretty good rule that I haven't found an exception to yet. If you see a past perfect dangling in a sentence by itself, it is very very likely to be wrong.

Now note my previous example, I did NOT use a past perfect construction, so the above rule doesn't apply. I used a Past - Present construction, which is perfectly fine even if the two actions are related as long as the time frame is correct (e.g. I showered in the past, and I smell good right now).

To drive Ron's point in even more, this will be wrong:

"I had showered yesterday, so I had smelled good."

This is wrong, because there needs to be another action in the past tense that follows the action stated in the past perfect.

Take-away: When you see the PAST PERFECT in a sentence or an answer choice, IMMEDIATELY look for another action in the SIMPLE PAST TENSE that is related and that logically follows after the action in the past tense. If the latter is not present, there "generally" is NO REASON to use the past perfect.

Note: The only exception is in the case of a IF-THEN construction. This is something you just need to memorize. The following example is correct even though there is no simple past tense.

"If Sophie HAD EATEN pizza yesterday, THEN she WOULD HAVE BECOME ill. (PAST PERFECT, CONDITIONAL PERFECT)."

If this construction confuses you, review the If... Then construction section of the Verb Tense chapter in your SC strategy guide.


Hope this helps :)

Thanks Ron, James!

Ron,

Just wanted to clarify - Is the first example that James provided correct?

1.) James took a shower yesterday, so he smells good today (past, present)

This sentence has a past action point with direct bearing on the present but does not use past perfect?

In which case, can I take it that the use of past perfect is optional?

Thanks,
Chitrangada

[james.jt.wu]

to see another question for practice... try OG12 SC #3. :)

[RonPurewal]

Thanks Ron, James!

Ron,

Just wanted to clarify - Is the first example that James provided correct?

1.) James took a shower yesterday, so he smells good today (past, present)

This sentence has a past action point with direct bearing on the present but does not use past perfect?

In which case, can I take it that the use of past perfect is optional?

Thanks,
Chitrangada

past perfect actions don't have a direct bearing on the present; they have a direct bearing on a past timeframe.

so:
something like
yesterday james smelled good, since he had taken a shower the day before.

i hope that washes away your confusion (haha ooooohh i'm a funny one)

[elevinty]

[/i]
i hope that washes away your confusion (haha ooooohh i'm a funny one)[/quote]

That phrase is nonsensical, you can't wash away a confusion but you can only clear a confusion

[mschwrtz]

well...eh..OK

[elevinty]

I was just kidding with RON
but obviously I wasn't funny!!

[tim]

:)

[yi_guang]

Hi instructors, can i elimininate the options C and D, based on the following.

C. that the beginning of the universe was an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that has expanded
as "that" illogically refers to "explosive instant"

D. the beginning of the universe to have been an explosive instant 10 to 20 billion years ago that is expanding
as "that" illogically refers to "beginning of the universe"

In other words, are there any rules which dictate "that" refers to which noun in a sentence?
1) COMMA that
2) w/o COMMA that

Thanks in advance.