Difficulty: Easy
Correct Answer: did you first meet
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
Tense and auxiliary usage in questions is a classic area tested in sentence improvement questions. The original sentence is "Where have you first met your husband?" which is not standard English because it mixes the present perfect "have met" with the adverb "first" in a way that does not sound natural. You must select the correct auxiliary and verb form to ask about a completed event at a specific time in the past.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
When asking about a specific event in the past, especially "the first time" something happened, English uses the simple past tense formed with "did" plus the base form of the verb. The correct structure is "Where did you first meet your husband?" Present perfect "have met" is used for unspecified past experiences like "Have you ever met him?" not for precise first-time events. Past perfect "had met" is normally used when referring to a time before another past action and is not suitable in a simple question like this.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Recognise that the question is about a specific past event: the very first meeting with the husband.Step 2: Recall the rule that questions about specific past times use "did" plus base verb, as in "Where did you go yesterday?"Step 3: Construct the correct pattern: "Where did you first meet your husband?"Step 4: Compare this pattern with option C "did you first meet," which matches exactly.Step 5: Evaluate option A "had you first met," which uses past perfect unnecessarily and also sounds unnatural in a direct question of this type.Step 6: Evaluate option B "did you first met," which wrongly combines auxiliary "did" with the past form "met" instead of the base "meet," and reject "no improvement" because the original is incorrect.
Verification / Alternative Check:
Try using each option in the full sentence. "Where did you first meet your husband?" is grammatical and natural. "Where had you first met your husband?" might only appear in a complex narrative context and still sounds odd. "Where did you first met your husband?" is clearly wrong because after "did" we must use "meet." The original "Where have you first met your husband?" does not follow standard usage, since "have you met" is used for life experiences without specifying a particular first time. This confirms that option C is the correct improvement.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
"Had you first met" in option A misuses the past perfect, which is used for actions completed before another past action, not for a simple isolated event. Option B breaks the rule that after "did" we always use the base form of the verb, never the past form. "No improvement" would keep an incorrect present perfect structure that does not match the meaning of the sentence. All three incorrect options either break grammatical rules or use the wrong tense for the context.
Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes treat "have" in "have you met" as if it were similar to "did" and also confuse the patterns for present perfect and simple past. A good way to avoid confusion is to remember that "did" always works with the base form of the verb and is used for finished actions at specific times, whereas present perfect like "have met" is used for experiences without mentioning exactly when. Applying this simple rule will help you handle similar exam questions with confidence.
Final Answer:
The corrected question is: "Where did you first meet your husband?"
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