Had she cooked food

[Untaught88]

Hi,

Are the following correct?

A) Had she cooked food before her mother entered the house/home? can I use either?
B) Had they played cricket when it started raining?
C) Had he watched TV before her mother came?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi,

Are the following correct?

A) Had she cooked food before her mother entered the house/home? can I use either? Say "home." You don't have to say "food" - we know.
B) Had they played cricket when it started raining? It's grammatical. See my notes below.
C) Had he watched TV before her mother came? It's grammatical. See my notes below.

These all mean that they had all STOPPED what they were doing BEFORE the three things happened. Is that what you mean?

If they were still doing those things when her mother arrived and it started raining, then the sentences should say:

A) Was she cooking when her mother entered the house?
B) Were they playing cricket when it started raining?
C) Was he watching TV when her mother came?

 

[Untaught88]

I should say:

Had she cooked (food - I can't use food, so I should use what is being cooked) before her mother entered the home?

But you use "the house" in your example.

 

[GoesStation]

I should say:

Had she cooked (food - I can't use food, so I should use what is being cooked) before her mother entered the home?

But you use "the house" in your example.

The house is much more common, though there are some contexts where home is possible.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

'... entered (the) home' sounds unnatural to me with or without the article. I'd say '... got home'.

Interesting! I was thinking the the mother was visiting and lived somewhere else.

So we were both assuming without knowing the whole story.

Untaught, if the mother lives there, then "got home" is right. If she lives somewhere else, then "entered the house" or "got to the house" is good.