Question

Instructions: In the following sentences, one word or phrase is used wrongly. Choose the word that must be changed, modified, or deleted to make the sentence correct. There are sentences without any errors too.

I know you must not see eye to eye with the philosophy of Ramkrishna, but you must admit that he had had tremendous influence over a great many followers.

• A. see eye to eye
• B. had had
• C. influence over
• D. no error

Hint:

Past perfect (“had had”) needs an earlier past reference point; this sentence only describes one simple past fact.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is B

Past perfect tense (“had had”) is reserved for describing something that happened before another past point already established in the sentence, and this sentence does not set up any such earlier reference point.

1. The sentence simply states a fact about Ramkrishna's influence in the past, with no second past event to compare it against.
2. Using the double “had had” incorrectly implies a past-before-past relationship that the sentence never establishes.
3. The correct form is simply the single past tense: “he had tremendous influence over a great many followers”.

So the correct answer is option B, “had had” is the phrase that needs correction.