PAST PERFECT TENSE

[pappup5]

Re Posting as per Ron's Instructions

Hi Ron,

Please refer Page 98 of the Sentence Correction Guide "Fifth Edition" :-

The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the
early 1980's, but less than ten years later, U2 HAD fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in
the pantheon of popular music.

My questions :-

> Are "before" and "after" the only words that ,by establishing sequence, can help eliminate the need for PAST PERFECT ?

The sentence uses the word "later..10 years" which seems sufficient to eliminate "HAD ECLIPSED" by establishing the correct sequence.
So can we not write the sentence as follows :-

The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the
early 1980's, but less than ten years later, U2 fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in
the pantheon of popular music

> Is the following construction grammatically correct and also a valid interpretation of what the sentence is trying to say ?

The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the
early 1980's, but within ten years, U2 had fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in
the pantheon of popular music.

> Can I use the word "it" avoid repeating "U2". The band.......later, it....music ? Will this be considered okay too if not better than the original?

Thanks in advance!

[pappup5]

Hi Ron,

Can you please reply to my question?

Thanks

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Sorry it's taken a while to reply to your questions.

> Are "before" and "after" the only words that ,by establishing sequence, can help eliminate the need for PAST PERFECT ?
No, there are many other constructions that serve this purpose. For example, I could say: "When I had eaten my dinner, I watched a film." But I could also say: "I ate my dinner, then I watched a film." The order of the actions is clear and we don't need past perfect. However, there is a subtle change of emphasis of the meaning of these two sentences. The first one (with past perfect) emphasizes that I finished my dinner. Sure, that's also true for the second sentence, but it is not emphasized. It's important to note that past perfect can put an emphasis on an action being finished.

The sentence uses the word "later..10 years" which seems sufficient to eliminate "HAD ECLIPSED" by establishing the correct sequence.
So can we not write the sentence as follows :- The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the early 1980's, but less than ten years later, U2 fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in the pantheon of popular music
This sentence doesn't work so well. The emphasis on the idea that U2 eclipsed its rivals before 10 years passed is lost. It actually sounds like U2 suddenly eclipsed its rivals on a single day 10 years later.

> Is the following construction grammatically correct and also a valid interpretation of what the sentence is trying to say ?
The band U2 WAS just one of many new groups on the rock music scene in the early 1980's, but within ten years, U2 had fully ECLIPSED its early rivals in the pantheon of popular music.
Yes, that works well. The phrase "within 10 years" gives exactly the idea of a window of time and the past perfect shows that the action was completed.

> Can I use the word "it" avoid repeating "U2". The band.......later, it....music ? Will this be considered okay too if not better than the original?
A pronoun is fine if it refers to its antecedent clearly. Here it works, as the parallel structure makes it clear that it's referring to U2.

[pappup5]

Hi Sage,

Thanks a lot for the detailed response. I understand your explanation. However, if there is a split solely based on "emphasis" as in the examples that you have mentioned, will past perfect prevail (since it lays more emphasis on the sequence ) ?

[Sage Pearce-Higgins]

Tricky question. If the use of past perfect changes the meaning of the sentence (as it did for the U2 example), then it could be a vital point for eliminating a wrong answer (see SC 804 from the 2017 OG for an example). However, remember that GMAT isn't going to split hairs: if the difference is just a subtle change of emphasis, then it won't be the only issue distinguishing a right from a wrong answer. Keep an eye out for meaning change as you do your OG problems and I think that the kind of things GMAT tests will become clear to you.