Simple Past vs Past Perfect Question

Question

Hello! I'm having a little bit of trouble understading when to use the Simple Past and when to use the Past Perfect.

I have an exercise that asks you to choose the correct option to complete the sentence:

"By the time they sounded the ship's alarm, it was/had been too late."

I thought the answer would be "had been" because what happened first is the being too late and then the ship's alarm went off. But the answer in the book says it's "was."

Why is it "was"? I'm confused.

Thank you!

Answer 1

For the past perfect, look for subordinating conjunctions that show sequence and order like 'before' and 'after'.

EX: Before we could say anything, he had already left.

EX: We had been walking for miles after the sun set.

The phrase 'by the time' is the same as 'when'. In this case, use parallel structure. That means keep the tenses the same when they happen at or close to the same time.

EX: When I laughed, everyone stared at me.

EX: By the time I knew the answer, the teacher called on another student.

The last example could technically be in the past perfect depending if you want to show that the the teacher called on a student first, then you knew the answer.

EX: By the time I knew the answer, the teacher had called on another student.

Also, consider if the sentence is describing an order of events or just a description. In your example, 'it was too late' is a description. There is no action happening in that sentence; it just describes the situation. In order to use the past perfect, it requires that both clauses (independent and dependent clauses) have an action taking place.

Ask yourself who or what made it too late? If there's no answer to those questions, that is if there's no actor doing the action, then it's a description and you would use the simple past.

Answer 2

past tense is for a completed action

past perfect is for an action completed before another past event

or

past perfect is for a "long" ago completed action where there are other past events

sounding the alarm was in the past, but not before another past event. It's because it would be too late that it's not before the critical past event. Alarms are sounded after the fire or emergency, not before (unless it's a surprisingly accurate premonition or you sound the alarm, then set the fire to justify the alarm to avoid legal liability for essentially shouting fire in a crowded theater.).

he ate a meal, past event

he said grace before the meal, a past event before another past event

he had said grace before the meal

by the time he said grace (after the meal) it was too late (if the Deity doesn't forgive the lateness)