English exercise of filling the correct tenses

[sariputra]

Dear sir/ma'am

I have a question about my English exercise of filling the correct tenses.
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My cousin and her husband live in Hanwell, one of the suburbs of London. One morning they (0) woke up (wake up) to find to their dismay that their car (1)__had been stolen___(steal) from outside their house. They immediately (2)__phoned___ (phone) the police to report the theft, before (3)__leaving___ (leave) for work by bus.
When they (4)__returned___ (return) home later the same day, they (5)__found__ (find) to their surprise that their car (6) __had been brought back___ (bring back) and was parked in its usual place outside their house. Under one of the windscreen wipers (7)__was__ (be) a small envelope.
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My question is No.6. why "had been brought back" and was parked …
NOT “was brought back” and was parked…. ?

Could you please explain it to me?

[Tdol]

Because the bringing back occurred before they found it, but the parking describes a state that was still true at the time of their finding it.

[Ngoc Du]

"had been brought back" is Past perfect tense. mean that it happened in the past and is still happening a little bit more at the time of present ,not finished yet.I mean that: They are seeing their car

example : Past simple . happened in the past and finished at the time it happened
They immediately (2)__phoned_
they (4)__returned
"was parked" is a Simple past tense . I think that also can use " parked"
ex: Active - Ann wrote a letter or They offered Ann the job
Passive - A letter was written by Ann or Ann was offered the job
or The job was offered to Ann
All these things I say above is just my little experiance about grammar , I am not really sure that its right 100%, because i learned about it for long time ago .But i have tried my best to help u , hope that it will be help you understand what i want to say .

By the way , "it is understood and
Could you please explain it to me?" should say "it is understanding....parked also like ...., isnt it? " and " Could you explain it for me , please " . I think , with this my sound is better then yours best wishes

[Mordant]

It is my understanding that ........

I believe that is what you were asking Ngoc.

[Casiopea]

Hello, Ngoc Du.

"had been brought back" and "was parked" are passive constructs.

Active: Someone had brought back the car.
Passibe: The car had been brought back (by someone).

Active: Someone parked the car.
Passive: The car was parked (by someone)

Passive is used for several reasons, one of which is when you don't know who committed the act.

Hope that helps.

[Casiopea]

Originally Posted by Ngoc Du

"had been brought back" is Past perfect tense. mean that it happened in the past and is still happening a little bit more at the time of present ,not finished yet.

That's more like the present perfect. The past perfect connects two events in the past. The verb carrying had + -ed/en happened first. Like this,

Event 1: I ate dinner. <It happened first>
Event 2: I washed the dishes. <It happened second>

Past Perfect: I had eaten dinner before I washed the dishes
Past Perfect: Before I washed the dishes I had eaten dinner.

Event 1: Someone brought back their car. <It happened first>
Event 2: They returned home. <It happened second>

Past Perfect: They returned home to find that their car had been brought back (by someone).

Past Perfect: Their car had been brought back (by someone) before they had returned home.

Hope that helps out some.

All the best.

[Ngoc Du]

hi Casiopea,

Thank you very much about your explainations to me . its really reminding to me ,also can help me to understand more about grammar which sort of u are saying . Once more thank to you, friend

best regard

[Casiopea]

You're most welcome, Ngoc Du. That's what we are here for.

All the best.