Practically all tickets for the Saturday matinee had been sold/were sold out/were sold.

[bartek1988]

Could you tell me if this sentence transformation is correct? The book provides 'had been sold' as the correct answer; however, I'm wondering is the other two options are also acceptable.

There were hardly any tickets available for the Saturday matinee.

Practically all tickets for the Saturday matinee had been sold/were sold out/were sold.

 

[White Hat]

'Were sold out' should work too.

 

[bartek1988]

Would 'were sold' not be acceptable?

 

[White Hat]

The following sentence from a Canadian website contains the entire phrase 'all tickets were sold out': 'With local talent coming to the stage from across Simcoe County, the concert drew a full house and all tickets were sold out'.

 

[Tarheel]

"Practically all the tickets had been sold" means there were very few left. If the event was sold out there were none left.

 

[Barque]

Would 'were sold' not be acceptable?

This could work in a different context but not if you're paraphrasing the first example.

Another option: The Saturday matinee was almost completely sold out.