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Igor · 01-03-2002, 04:37 PM

Hi everybody!
There is a sentence from a test:
By then I ............ my driving test, I hope.

(a) pass

(b) will have passed

(c) will be passed

(d) have passed

the right answer is (b). But, if in the (a)
we have "passed" instead of "pass", could it be a right answer also?
Thanks.

**Erin** · 01-04-2002, 11:46 PM

First of all, this is not from the real TOEFL, and you will not likely see a question like this on your TOEFL.

Second, (A) would still be wrong, even if we changed it to passed.

The main thing here is that we are using by, which means that we are comparing two times or tenses. Since we are comparing two tenses, we cannot use a simple tense, we must use a perfect tense.

Hope that helps!!

Erin

Erin Billy
TestMagic.com
San Francisco, CA USA

Igor · 01-06-2002, 02:41 PM

Dear Erin Billy ! Thank you for your answer. First, I took this question from " daily-changing TOEFL Quiz". It is on Free TOEFL Study page on the Internet. Your answer raises a question. That is my I use this page to prepare for TOEFL test? Second, would you please to explain more about preposition "by" than it using to compare two times or tenses.
I understand preposition "by" as a method to establish a boarder of time. For example, in the sentence from the test we can put " by Friday" instead of " by then". The whole sentence could be: By Friday I will have passed drive test, I hope.
Thanks.

**Erin** · 01-06-2002, 06:41 PM

Hi, Igor!!

To answer your first question, I think that studying grammar in general will help your TOEFL score, but most people want to study only those types of questions that are most likely to appear on the TOEFL. A lot of people, however, like to study all types of grammar to help them. There are many free TOEFL questions on the Internet, but many of them are not realistic TOEFL-style questions--it's pretty hard to write good TOEFL questions, and you have to know a LOT about the TOEFL to do so.

Second, it's pretty easy to explain the use of by; by simply means before, and if we use before, we are saying that one thing happened before another thing, right? So, if we say that one thing happened before another thing, we have two times or tenses, right?

So, we'd have a sentence like this:

Before Friday, I had never heard that word before.

Before next Friday, I hope that I will have already finished my homework for class.

Let me know if you have any other questions!!

Hope that helps!!

Erin

Erin Billy
TestMagic.com
San Francisco, CA USA

01-04-2002, 11:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
Erin So many things to do... Forum Admin Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: USA Posts: 8,303	First of all, this is not from the real TOEFL, and you will not likely see a question like this on your TOEFL. Second, (A) would still be wrong, even if we changed it to passed. The main thing here is that we are using by, which means that we are comparing two times or tenses. Since we are comparing two tenses, we cannot use a simple tense, we must use a perfect tense. Hope that helps!! Erin Erin Billy TestMagic.com San Francisco, CA USA _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ [Say 'hi'!] [Google Interviews Erin] [San Francisco Chronicle Interviews Erin]

01-06-2002, 06:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
Erin So many things to do... Forum Admin Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: USA Posts: 8,303	Hi, Igor!! To answer your first question, I think that studying grammar in general will help your TOEFL score, but most people want to study only those types of questions that are most likely to appear on the TOEFL. A lot of people, however, like to study all types of grammar to help them. There are many free TOEFL questions on the Internet, but many of them are not realistic TOEFL-style questions--it's pretty hard to write good TOEFL questions, and you have to know a LOT about the TOEFL to do so. Second, it's pretty easy to explain the use of by; by simply means before, and if we use before, we are saying that one thing happened before another thing, right? So, if we say that one thing happened before another thing, we have two times or tenses, right? So, we'd have a sentence like this: Before Friday, I had never heard that word before. Before next Friday, I hope that I will have already finished my homework for class. Let me know if you have any other questions!! Hope that helps!! Erin Erin Billy TestMagic.com San Francisco, CA USA _ _ _ _ SIG _ _ _ _ [Say 'hi'!] [Google Interviews Erin] [San Francisco Chronicle Interviews Erin]

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01-03-2002, 04:37 PM	#1 (permalink)
Igor Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: USA Posts: 22	Hi everybody! There is a sentence from a test: By then I ............ my driving test, I hope. (a) pass (b) will have passed (c) will be passed (d) have passed the right answer is (b). But, if in the (a) we have "passed" instead of "pass", could it be a right answer also? Thanks.

01-06-2002, 02:41 PM	#3 (permalink)
Igor Trying to make mom and pop proud Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: USA Posts: 22	Dear Erin Billy ! Thank you for your answer. First, I took this question from " daily-changing TOEFL Quiz". It is on Free TOEFL Study page on the Internet. Your answer raises a question. That is my I use this page to prepare for TOEFL test? Second, would you please to explain more about preposition "by" than it using to compare two times or tenses. I understand preposition "by" as a method to establish a boarder of time. For example, in the sentence from the test we can put " by Friday" instead of " by then". The whole sentence could be: By Friday I will have passed drive test, I hope. Thanks.

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