Improve the bracketed verb phrase have had in the sentence Before I met your brother I have had a poor opinion of him by choosing the correct past tense form.

Introduction / Context:
This question examines your knowledge of English verb tenses, specifically the use of past perfect in relation to past simple. The sentence Before I met your brother I have had a poor opinion of him contains an underlined or bracketed verb phrase have had that must be corrected. Competitive exams often test such fine points of tense usage because they reveal whether a candidate can show time relationships accurately between two past actions.

Given Data / Assumptions:

The main sentence is Before I met your brother I have had a poor opinion of him.
The action of meeting the brother is in the past and is expressed by met.

The underlined phrase is have had, and we must choose the best replacement from the options had had, had, did have, or no improvement.

Concept / Approach:
When we describe two actions in the past where one happened before another, we usually express the earlier action in the past perfect tense and the later action in the simple past. In the sentence, meeting the brother is the later action, while holding a poor opinion is a state that existed before that meeting. Therefore, the verb phrase for the earlier state should be in the past perfect form had had to show that this opinion existed prior to the time of meeting. The present perfect form have had is not suitable because it connects the past action to the present, which clashes with the fully past time reference created by Before I met your brother.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the two distinct time events in the sentence: having a poor opinion and meeting your brother. Step 2: Recognise that meeting your brother is in simple past tense met, which fixes the reference time in the past. Step 3: Notice that the poor opinion existed even earlier than this meeting, so it is a prior state in relation to met. Step 4: Apply the rule that the earlier event should be expressed in past perfect, so have had must change to had had. Step 5: Rewrite the correct sentence as Before I met your brother I had had a poor opinion of him, and choose had had as the correct option.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can test the correctness by comparing three versions. Version one, Before I met your brother I have had a poor opinion of him, mixes present perfect with past simple, which feels awkward and suggests an effect continuing to the present. Version two, Before I met your brother I had a poor opinion of him, is understandable but does not clearly mark the earlier time relationship. Version three, Before I met your brother I had had a poor opinion of him, clearly shows that the opinion existed for some time before the meeting. Grammar books often use similar examples where past perfect is preferred for clarity when two past times are involved.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B had is in simple past, which does not clearly indicate that the state existed before the meeting, even though many speakers might use it informally. Option C did have introduces an unnecessary auxiliary did and usually appears in questions or emphatic statements, so it sounds unnatural in this context. Option D no improvement keeps have had, which is present perfect and inconsistent with the fully past time reference created by met, therefore it is grammatically weak.

Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes avoid using past perfect because had had looks repetitive and they are unsure of its correctness. This can lead them to rely only on simple past even when two time levels should be distinguished. Another common issue is confusion between present perfect and past perfect, especially when time markers like before and after are present. A good practice is to mark the later event first, then look back and see which action happened earlier and therefore needs the had plus past participle structure.

Final Answer:
had had