The flight had taken off before I the airport

Question

The flight had taken off before I the airport

1. A. reach
2. B. reached (Correct answer)
3. C. was reaching
4. D. reaches

Correct Answer

Option B — reached

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is reached.

Key Points

• The sentence pairs two past events. The earlier one takes the past perfect — *had taken off* — and the later one takes the simple past: reached.
• The conjunction before already fixes the order, so no further tense marking is needed on the second verb.
• *Reach* and *reaches* are present forms and cannot follow a past perfect clause here.

Additional Information

• The rule: past perfect for the earlier action, simple past for the later one — *The train had left before I arrived.*
• With after, the order reverses: *After I had finished my work, I went home.*
• Note that reach takes no preposition before a place: *reached the airport*, never *reached at the airport* — a very common error.