Question

Which is the correct combination of the two sentences below?
Priya reached the station. The bus left before her.

• A. When Priya reached the station, the bus had already left.
• B. When Priya had reached the station, the bus already left.
• C. Priya reached the station, when the bus already left.
• D. When Priya had reached the station, the bus had already left.

Hint:

Use past perfect ("had + verb") to show that one past action occurred before another.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

To correctly combine two actions that happened in the past — where one action occurred before the other — we use the past perfect tense for the earlier action.
In this case, the bus left before Priya reached the station, so "had already left" is appropriate. Since "Priya had reached the station" is also a completed action in the past, using past perfect in both clauses maintains grammatical balance. Correct sentence:
\textit{"When Priya had reached the station, the bus had already left."}
(A) uses past and past perfect inconsistently.

(B) fails to use past perfect for "left" – makes the sequence unclear.

(C) has incorrect structure and tense.

(D) is the most grammatically precise and contextually correct.