She already woke up when the phone rang.

Manhattan SC Exp :Already woke up (simple past) should be had already woken up (past perfect). We need to use the past perfect here because the word already requires this use for a momentary action such as wake up, when placed prior to another past action. It would be fine to say She was already awake when the phone rang, because was awake is a state and thus takes up time. In that case, already would indicate that this state was in effect before the phone rang. However, when you use already with the simple past of a momentary action, you convey a present perfect meaning. As your spouse shakes you out of bed, you might say I already woke up, but in proper English you should say I HAVE already woken up. In other words, the action is complete, AND the effect (your wakefulness) continues to the present. In the sample sentence, since we want the subject's wakefulness to continue up through some point in the past (when the phone rang), we must use the past perfect of wake up.

Can somebody explain what Manhattan is trying to explain . The explanation provided is not clear and very confusing. I cannot make out the take aways !

Let me try…

“She already woke up when the phone rang”

In this particular sentence, we do not know which action took place first. However, we can correct this mistake in two ways.

1) By using “past perfect tense” for action that took place first

“She had already woken up when the phone rang”

From this sentence, it is understood that the action represented in past perfect took place first (that is, had … woken up). This means that she woke up first, then the phone rang.

2) By using “already” with simple past

“She was already awake when the phone rang”

This conveys a similar meaning as above. However, when you use “already” with simple past tense, you convey a present perfect meaning… as if like the action has just completed (not something that happened two days back!)

Hope that makes sense...

Nice explanation, thanks!

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Jamie Nelson
ManhattanGMAT Instructor