45- When Anna Webb began to speak out against
A
polygamy – she shared her husband, Mormon leader
Brigham Young, with twenty-six other wives – she
B
had been the first woman to rebel against the Mormon
C D
practice. No error
EThere is a lot going on in this sentence, so let’s check the answers one by one.
(A) The sentence starts with “when” and could possibly be setting up a sentence fragment
issue. Get rid of the phrase between the dashes - she shared her husband, Mormon leader
Brigham Young, with twenty-six other wives - and read the sentence: When Anna Web
began to speak out against polygamy, she had been the first woman to rebel against
the Mormon practice. No sentence fragment issue there. “Began” is a past tense verb.
Is the sentence set in the past? Yes. Brigham Young lived in the 1800s and polygamy
is now illegal.
(B) Let’s check the preposition “with.” Can you share with someone? Yes. The adverb “other” is
also important. Had the sentence read, she shared her husband with twenty-six wives, Anna
would be compared to herself. You need the “other” to differentiate.
(C) “had been” is the past perfect tense. Let’s test for a Verb Tense error. Are there two past
actions? Yes. Is one action happening before the other? No. The “when” indicates that the
actions (began to speak and had been) are occurring simultaneously. Had been should be
the simple past became.
(D) Should the infinitive “to rebel” be the gerund “rebelling”? Nope.
Revised Sentence:
When Anna Webb began to speak out against
A
polygamy – she shared her husband, Mormon leader
Brigham Young, with twenty-six other wives – she
became B Verb Tense
had been the first woman to rebel against the Mormon
C D
practice. No error
E
Correct Answer: (C)