Verb tense question

Question

Samantha was so late arriving home that Mark ____ to bed.

a. had already gone
b. has already gone
c. already went
d. will already have gone

I thought it was (a) but (c) is the correct answer. I don't understand why. Can someone help me out?

Thanks

Blue Jay · Accepted Answer

I don't understand either. I would have answered A as well.

Blue Jay · Answer

Adding to my earlier answer:
You are describing something that occurred in the past (Mark going to bed) that happened before another event in the past (Samantha getting home). You need to use the past perfect tense to describe this, had gone.
Without the already, you could say Samantha was so late arriving home that Mark went to bed, which would be fine since it would refer to the time when Mark was waiting for Samantha to get home. However, as soon as you put already in the sentence this no longer works.
You could say Samantha was so late arriving home that Mark was already in bed, but this isn't offered as an option.

Anonymous · Answer

Thank you for explaining it in detail. I don't know; I guess the answer is a typo or something.

CalifJim · Answer

Anonymous(c) is the correct answer

That doesn't sound right. "already" is more often used with the perfect tenses, so (a) is the most logical choice.

CJ

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