I am really confused

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I am really confused
Message from yousef posted on 14-10-2011 at 14:09:05 (D | E | F)
Hello,

I am really confused about this sentence.
I am not quite sure about its correctness.Could you help me please?

A- Why did not you come by bus ?
B- Because it already (leave) the station by the time I arrived there.

I solve it:
It has already left, I am I right?

And why did not we say:
It had already left.
And why ?

Waiting for your answers.
Thank you.

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Edited by lucile83 on 14-10-2011 14:14

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Re: I am really confused from brettdallen, posted on 14-10-2011 at 14:50:34 (D | E)
Hello,
Don't be so confused! We'd say "it had already left", so you were right!
Bye bye!

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Re: I am really confused from sherry48, posted on 14-10-2011 at 14:53:32 (D | E)
Hello yousef.
Your confusion is between the present perfect and past perfect.
A- Why did not you come by bus ? (Why did you not/ why didn't you come by bus?)
B- Because it had already left the station by the time I arrived there.(past perfect)
Use the past perfect tense for action in the past that occurs before another action in the past.
When you arrive at the station, you can say...Oh, too bad, the bus has already left! (present perfect)
I hope this helps. Sherry

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Re: I am really confused from yousef, posted on 15-10-2011 at 06:51:05 (D | E)
Sherry and Brettdallen,
thank you very much. Your help is highly appreciated.

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