By the time

Question

1.he had gone by the time I arrived (past perfect)
2.he left by the time I arrived(simple past)
3. He finishes his work deaily by the time his father comes back..

Present )
Are all these correct my concern is use of 'by the time'
Have i used correctly by time. Specially in present
And if i am not wrong here meanin of by the time is 'before'

Mister Micawber · Accepted Answer

rashid rajalAre all these correct my concern is use of 'by the time'

#2 is suspect. We'd say 'He'd left'.

rashid rajalHave i used correctly by time. Specially in present

Yes.

rashid rajalAnd if i am not wrong here meanin of by the time is 'before'

Yes.

You have other problems because you do not write carefully:

He had gone by the time I arrived.
He'd left by the time I arrived.
He finishes his work daily by the time his father comes back.

Rashid rajal · Answer

He finishes his work daily by the time his father comes back.

Is that mean he finishes his work before his father comes back?

Rashid rajal · Answer

Sorry i already have asked this. Last question.
Please let me know why we need to use
We'd say or you'd left for past. Why we need to use 'would'

CalifJim · Answer

rashid rajal He finishes his work daily by the time his father comes back. Does Is that mean he finishes his work before his father comes back?

Yes. 'by the time' sets up a race.

One chain of events: He is hurrying to finish his work before his father comes back.
Another chain of events: His father is on his way. He may come back at any time.

Which chain of events will finish first?

He finishes his work by the time his father comes back.
(He finishes first, then his father comes back. He wins "the race".)
He doesn't finish his work by the time his father comes back.
(His father comes back, and at that time he has not finished his work. He loses "the race".)
_____________

If you just say "before", it doesn't matter when. Maybe he finished his work two days ago. His father came back 5 minutes ago. There was no "race", no idea that two chains of events were going on at the same time. So in this case "before" is better than "by the time".

CJ

Mister Micawber · Answer

rashid rajalWe'd say or you'd left for past. Why we need to use 'would'

We'd' is not 'we would'; it is 'we had'. I feel that the past perfect (in that form) is native there.

By the time

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