By the time — Sentence Correction Aptitude Question
By the time: Choose the correct sentence: Answer and worked solution on CodeKairo.
- Topic: Sentence Correction
- Section: Verbal Ability
- Difficulty: Hard
- Time target: 70 seconds
Question
Choose the correct sentence:
Options
- By the time we arrive, the film will start.
- By the time we arrive, the film will have started.
- By the time we will arrive, the film starts.
- By the time we arrived, the film will have started.
Show the answer and the worked solution
Correct answer: B. By the time we arrive, the film will have started.
Worked solution
- The film finishes starting before the moment of arrival, so the future perfect is needed: will have started.
- A time clause after 'by the time' uses the present, not 'will'.
Answer: By the time we arrive, the film will have started.
The idea
Time clauses (when, by the time, as soon as) take the present tense even when the meaning is future. The main clause carries the future form.
Shortcut. 'By the time' sets a deadline: the main clause takes 'will have + participle' and the time clause stays in the plain present ('we arrive'). Only one option pairs those two forms.
Common trap. "By the time we arrive, the film will start." — the simple future suggests the film starts after arrival; 'by the time' means the starting is complete before then, which needs 'will have started'.