Sentence Correction

A survey of men from ages 18 to 30 revealed homosexual experiences in 30 percent of them and they ranged from an isolated incident to a permanent lifestyle.
A. same
B. experiences in 30 percent were homosexual and ranging
C. the ranging of homosexual experiences in 30 percent of them to be
D. that 30 percent had had homosexual experiences ranging
E. that 30 percent of them had had experiences that were were homosexual; the range was.

OA later, i thought it was simple to eliminate wrong choices here, but was totally stumped.

Is the usage of had had correct.

chaya009 wrote:A survey of men from ages 18 to 30 revealed homosexual experiences in 30 percent of them and they ranged from an isolated incident to a permanent lifestyle.
A. same
B. experiences in 30 percent were homosexual and ranging
C. the ranging of homosexual experiences in 30 percent of them to be
D. that 30 percent had had homosexual experiences ranging
E. that 30 percent of them had had experiences that were were homosexual; the range was.

OA later, i thought it was simple to eliminate wrong choices here, but was totally stumped.

Is the usage of had had correct.

My pick is D. omit all unnecessary (they/they) modifiers.

chaya009 wrote:A survey of men from ages 18 to 30 revealed homosexual experiences in 30 percent of them and they ranged from an isolated incident to a permanent lifestyle.
A. same
B. experiences in 30 percent were homosexual and ranging
C. the ranging of homosexual experiences in 30 percent of them to be
D. that 30 percent had had homosexual experiences ranging
E. that 30 percent of them had had experiences that were were homosexual; the range was.

OA later, i thought it was simple to eliminate wrong choices here, but was totally stumped.

Is the usage of had had correct.

usage of had had (had + past participle ) is correct.. 1st had is past tense and the 2nd had is past participle of to have (verb)
Hope this HELPS !!

i found out that have is the past perfect of had when it is used as a main verb to describe our experiences and actions. We use the past perfect when we are talking about the past and want to refer back to an earlier past time.

Note that past perfect forms are a feature of if-clauses in the third type of conditional sentence when we are explaining past actions or regretting past inaction. Thus, had had is likely to appear in this construction:

If I hadn't had a good education, I would never have got this job.

If she had had children later in life, she would have been a better mother.

If I'd had another ten minutes, I would've finished the examination paper.

Source : BBC English grammar

But in the sentence there are no two past events, how does one justify that.

chaya009 wrote:i found out that have is the past perfect of had when it is used as a main verb to describe our experiences and actions. We use the past perfect when we are talking about the past and want to refer back to an earlier past time.

Note that past perfect forms are a feature of if-clauses in the third type of conditional sentence when we are explaining past actions or regretting past inaction. Thus, had had is likely to appear in this construction:

If I hadn't had a good education, I would never have got this job.

If she had had children later in life, she would have been a better mother.

If I'd had another ten minutes, I would've finished the examination paper.

Source : BBC English grammar

But in the sentence there are no two past events, how does one justify that.

You use PAST PERFECT when
Note these 4 cases & apply

HOpe it helps

You may take this as TAKEAWAYS for prep.


1) If u see "BY <year> " use PAST PERFECT and the <year> is seen as a time marker, so serves purpose of SIMPLE PAST

EXAMPLE 1:: In 1981 children in the United States spent an average of slightly less than two and a half hours a week doing household chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week
EXAMPLE 2:: As of 1991, Bob Beamon's long-jump world record had stood for 23 years.


2) When a process is described that persisted up some time in past

EXAMPLE 1:: In 1981 children in the United States spent an average of slightly less than two and a half hours a week doing household chores; by 1997 that figure had grown to nearly six hours a week
EXAMPLE 2:: As of 1991, Bob Beamon's long-jump world record had stood for 23 years.

3) The end result of process that occurred in the past is important

EXAMPLE 1:: Less than 35 years after the release of African honeybees outside Sao Paulo, Brazil, their descendants, popularly known as killer bees, had migrated as far north as southern Texas.
EXAMPLE 2:: Jesse had flown almost a million miles during those two years.
EXAMPLE 3 :: As of 1991, Bob Beamon's long-jump world record had stood for 23 years.

4) THE NORMAL USAGE :: @ chaya, which u refrred to above ( 2 actions)
When you have a SIMPLE PAST present the other earlier action takes PAST PERFECT
EXAMPLE 1:: The train had departed by the time we arrived



Disclaimer :

I had started this thread https://www.beatthegmat.com/present-perf ... 49438.html
on which we have expert's consent as well.

thanks for explaining it in such a lucid manner.

my choice is D but I don't see the official answer in the thread. is it posted somewhere and I missed it?

The OA is D.