By the time I got to the cinema, the movie _.
Correct answer: A. Had started
- A. Had started
- B. Has started
- C. Was starting
- D. Started
Explanation
The correct answer is 'had started,' which uses the past perfect tense. This tense is used to indicate that one action (the movie starting) was completed before another action (arriving at the cinema). The phrase 'By the time I got to the cinema' sets a past context, requiring the past perfect tense to show the prior completion of the movie starting. The other options use incorrect tenses for this context: 'has started' is present perfect, 'was starting' is past continuous, and 'started' is simple past, none of which accurately depict the sequence of events.
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About Tenses
Tenses show when an action or state occurs and whether it is complete, continuing or repeated. The work covers present, past and future forms, including simple, continuous, perfect and perfect continuous constructions, as well as sequence of tenses and the difference between tense and aspect.
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