Two Grammar Questions

Test Preparation SAT Preparation
1

<p>1.) They had had the foundation of their house sealed, but the sealant provided no defense against the water that leaked through the walls and filled the basement with four feet of water.</p>

<p>Answer: (E) No Error.
My Question: In this sentence, how is "had had" correct? When should you use "had had"?</p>

<p>2.) Prior to her presidency, an attitude of cockiness and carelessness was common, and safety rules were rarely taken seriously. </p>

<p>Answer: (E) No Error.
My Question: I read somewhere that all pronouns in the SAT need to have a clear antecedent, but in this question WHAT is the antecedent of the pronoun "she"? Since there is none provided in this sentence, how is this sentence a "no error" question?</p>

2

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<p>had had is correct since the first had is used to introduce past perfect. The second had is the past participle of to have.</p>

<p>Ex. I had written a letter to you. </p>

<p>had precedes the past participle written. Had written is the past perfect form.</p>

<p>Infinivite: To have
Present: have/has
Past: had
Past participle: had</p>

<p>Had had can be used.</p>

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<p>Silverturtle stated in his guide that exophoric pronouns are always incorrect in the context of the SAT.</p>

<p>In this sentence, “her” is only a possessive adjective. It wouldn’t really matter whether her was mentioned in the sentence.</p>

<p>Just a question: Is the second question from a real CB released SAT? Can you tell me which words were underlined?</p>

3

<p>I agree with both comments: (1) that there is inadequate context for “her”, and (2) that “her presidency” is simply meant to set the timeline for the sentence and as such doesn’t really affect the remainder of the sentence (which is no error). Presumably the pronoun “her” refers to some context set in a previous sentence. It’s a poorly posed question. I can’t imagine it appearing on an official exam.</p>