When I asked the driver/ to come with me to the temple/ he had been reluctant./ No error.
I think instead of 'had been', there should be 'was'. Even the answer key points that the error is in the 'he had been reluctant' part. But I am not sure why exactly is 'had been' wrong.
If we replace the first part with 'when I had asked the driver', would that make 'had been' in the third part correct?
Answer
You use past perfect tense ("had been") when you are trying to show which of two events in the past happened first. "He had been reluctant when I asked him to come with me" indicates his reluctance came first, which doesn't seem right.
"He had been reluctant to go to the temple, but came with me when I asked." or "When I asked him to come with me, he was reluctant." makes more sense. The "when" indicates the time that the events happened (at the same time that I asked), so I don't see the need for past perfect tense.
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