Which words can fill the blanks correctly?
He ......... already ......... when you arrived.

Question

Which words can fill the blanks correctly?
 He ......... already ......... when you arrived.

Accepted Answer

The correct option is 2:

This sentence requires the use of the Past Perfect tense for the action that happened earlier ("already...") and the Simple Past tense for the later action ("when you arrived"). The Past Perfect tense is formed using the auxiliary verb "had" followed by the past participle of the main verb. The action of starting happened before the action of arriving. Therefore, the phrase "He had already started" correctly conveys that his starting action was completed before your arrival, using "had" and the past participle "started." The word "already" further emphasizes the completion of the action prior to the second past event.

The incorrect option is 1 (has, start): This option uses the Present Perfect tense ("has start" is grammatically incorrect; the correct form would be "has started") combined with the simple past "arrived." Using the Present Perfect is incorrect because the entire sentence refers to two completed actions in the past, making the Past Perfect the necessary tense to establish the sequence of events.

The incorrect option is 3 (had, starts): This option uses the correct auxiliary verb "had" but follows it with the simple present form of the verb "starts." The Past Perfect tense requires the past participle (started), not the simple present form, making this option grammatically incorrect.

The incorrect option is 4 (None): Since Option 2 provides the correct and logical completion of the sentence using the appropriate tense (Past Perfect), this option is incorrect.