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My answer is (A). It took me 39 seconds.

(A) reads ok. Took notice that "whom he had known as a child" is underlined, so there should be a split that fails to use "whom".

Eliminate (CD) because "who" is used. In everyday writing, "who" is totally fine. Does GMAT also tolerate the use of "who" when "whom" is the most appropriate (because the relative pronoun is used as object of the verb "know")? This is an example that we hope that GMAT is strict.
Actually, (CD) contain other errors.

(B) past perfect tense "had returned" is inappropriate. Granted, "return" happened before mansion and marriage, but
(1) "when" is sufficient to show the time sequence.
(2) there is no clear indicator such as "by..." that calls for the perfect tense.

(E) "whom he knew to be a child" indicates that Genji married a child bride. Without particular historical knowledge to assess such claim, I regard such marriage as highly implausible.

When Genji returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, whom he had known as a child; at this point, his future seemed assured, but fate held more trials for him.


A) returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, whom he had known as a child Correct

B) had returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, whom he had known as a child Incorrect

C) had returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, who he had known as a child Incorrect

D) returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, who he knew as a child Incorrect

E) returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, whom he knew to be a child Incorrect

B & C out - 'when ' indicates a specific time, so no need had
In D 'who' should be 'whom'
E has tense issue - had require in modifier; he knew the girl from past or before his marriage

Hi zhanbo,

In answer Choice A - past perfect tense " had known" is used.
We know that past perfect tense is used to show sequence of events. But such is not the intention of the author.
Rather the author mentions it as a FACT ie Genji knew emperors daughter since he was a child.

Regards.

A) returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, whom he had known as a child
seems fine.

B) had returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, whom he had known as a child
should be in simple past as there's no clear indicator when one event stopped and other started

C) had returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, who he had known as a child
same as B. who should be whom as "Emperor’s daughter" is the object of the sentence

D) returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, who he knew as a child
same as C,who should be whom. "knew" should be "had known" as the process started and continued for a period of time

E) returned to the capital after his long exile, he built a luxurious mansion and married the Emperor’s daughter, whom he knew to be a child
"knew to be a child" this changes the meaning in whole different way
IMO A

Why is the use of past perfect (had returned) incorrect here? There are 2 past events stated: returned and built

Is the use of 'when' enough to show time sequence?

Consider the following example from the MGMAT guide:
She already woke up when the phone rang. Incorrect
She had already woken up when the phone rang. Correct

Hello 1potato2potato,

We hope this finds you well.

To answer your query, the use of "When" conveys that the actions "returned", "built", and "married" take place in the same relative time period; thus, the use of the past perfect tense is incorrect.

We hope this helps.
All the best!
Experts' Global Team.
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