<p>Please help if you can. I am having trouble with verb tenses at the moment. </p>
<p>The red cross workers had not expected the refugees from the flooded plain to b eas desperate as those whom they (had seen) earlier in the week. </p>
<p>I put my answer 'had seen' as the incorrect answer as I didnt think
the use of the perfect past was correct. Why is 'had seen' correct though, why
do we have to be consistent here. I am really confused. </p>
<p>Anyone who has a good explanation please help!
cheers</p>
<p>Look at the original sentence (The red cross workers had not expected the…) ,it is in the past perfect. then he says (as those whom they had seen earlier in the week) “earlier in the week” is the key because it is before "they had not expected the … "so it is correct in past perfect</p>
<p>Past perfect is used to refer to an action that took place before another action or before a specific time in the past.
Eg : By the time I reached her house, the last guests had already left. ( The action ‘the guests left’ took place before another past action - ‘I reached the house’.)
Eg : He knew the city like the back of his hand because he had lived there for several years as a child. ( ‘He had lived there’ before a specific time in the past, i.e. during his childhood days. Then ‘he knew it like the back of his hand’)
In the given sentence, one past action is mentioned : ‘the red cross workers HAD NOT EXPECTED the refugees to be as desperate …’
It is explicitly mentioned that the second action of ‘seeing other refugees’ occured EARLIER THAT WEEK, i.e. BEFORE the previously mentioned action. Hence, the past perfect form ‘had seen’ is the correct option.
As far as I have observed, SAT Writing question generally have conspicuous time clues indicating the use of past perfect. Usually a past action is mentioned along with words and phrases like ‘By the time’, ‘Earlier’, ‘Before’ etc. Be on the lookout for these; if another action occurred before the mentioned past action, the past perfect form of the word is the correct option.
Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Thanks guys so much this clears things up, a lot.
:D</p>