By the time they arrive, the concert had ended.
Sentence Error Analysis: Verb Tense Mismatch
This sentence presents an error in verb tense consistency. Let's break down the sentence to understand the issue:
Sentence: "By the time they arrive, the concert had ended."
The sentence involves two clauses:
- Subordinate Clause: "By the time they arrive"
- Main Clause: "the concert had ended"
Understanding Verb Tense Rules
The phrase "By the time" often connects two events in the past. When we use the past perfect tense (had + past participle) in the main clause to describe an action that was completed before another past action, the verb in the subordinate clause introduced by "By the time" should typically be in the simple past tense.
- The main clause "the concert had ended" uses the past perfect tense, indicating the concert finished before some other past event.
- The subordinate clause "By the time they arrive" uses the simple present tense verb "arrive".
Identifying the Error
The error lies in the verb tense of the subordinate clause. Because the main clause uses the past perfect ("had ended"), the verb associated with the "By the time" clause should reflect an action that happened just before the main action was completed, using the simple past tense.
- The verb "arrive" is in the present tense.
- The correct tense needed here is the simple past tense, which is "arrived".
Therefore, the sentence should correctly read: "By the time they arrived, the concert had ended." This corrected sentence shows a clear sequence: they arrived, and just before or by the moment they arrived, the concert had already finished.
Similar Questions
- Find the incorrect part of the sentence:
She has been teaching in this school since five years. - Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:
The teacher who had conducted the workshop earlier, (1)/ along with his assistants, (2)/ have submitted the final report to the board (3)/ before the deadline last week. (4) - Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:
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- Change the following from active to passive:
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P. The finance minister presents the budget in Parliament
Q. The Ministry of Finance collects estimates from various ministries
R. The budget is passed by both houses of Parliament
S. The Cabinet approves the final draft of the budget - Which of the given options is the most logical sequencing of the following sentences to form a meaningful paragraph?
1. The advancements in science led by figures like Copernicus, Galileo and Descartes also questioned its established views of the
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individual thinking.
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Important Questions from Error Spotting
Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A honest mistake (a) / is no more than that; (b) / just an honest mistake. (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
A company of five thousand soldiers , (a) / having marched tirelessly for over five days , (b) / have just moved into their cantonment . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
Every person who believes in principles (a) / must stand up to fight (b) / for their convictions . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The Olympic Games reflects(a) / the highest spirit of (b) / human endeavour and achievement . (c) / No error (d)Direction: Each item in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled (a), (b) and (c) Read each sentence to determine whether there is an error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter, i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).
The principal of the school (a) / stressed the need for discipline (b) / amongst the students. (c) / No error (d)
