The sequence here according to me is

1. seeing the body – first act – so past perfect 'had seen' is necessary
2. Having no doubt – the second act- hence simple past is needed- 'had no doubt' is used in the sense of 'possessed no doubt'. – 'had' is used as the simple past of 'have'

So E is ok in the use of appropriate tenses.
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A has 2 problems

1) DID NOT DOUBT should be HAD NO DOUBTS
because if you notice the start of the sentence,it says "ONCE THEY BALH BLAH BLAH" which means when they started off with the experiment,tthey had some doubts whch got resolved when they BLAH BLAH BLAH...this EFFECT is not represented as well by DID NOT DOUBT as by HAD NO DOUBTS

2) "BODY RECOVERED WAS" THE MAN
new found BODY is being compared with MAN when actually
new found BODY should be compared with THE BODY OF THE MAN..

Friend
It cant be A

read it again and get the total picture
apart from TENSE issue
there is another Wrong COMPARISON ISSUE here
Once they had seen the report from the medical examiner, the investigators did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was the man
the Body=the man

During the question I was trying to match PAST PERFECT to SIMPLE PAST. I picked A originally since "did not doubt" sounded like SIMPLE PAST tense to me. I couldn't understand why E was correct. This was bothering me all morning until I realized that I incorrectly thought "had no doubt" was in PAST PERFECT tense. In fact it is in SIMPLE PAST tense. Everytime I see "had" my mind thinks past perfect.

Hi,

Just a basic question . The Sentence structure is Once X had (Past perfect)Y Happened (Past tense). Is "Had no Doubt" is a past tense or perfect tense?

Thanks in advance

Hi Nitin, "had" is simple past tense when it is not followed by a verb. For past perfect, "had" should be followed by a verb. For example, "had doubted" would be past perfect tense.

Regards,
Meghna
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The body .... was the man ! this's even nonsensical. It should be "the body .... was that of .."
A,B and C are out.
At the beginning of the sentence it says " Once they had seen that indicate that there is something happened before a simple past event. So, we need to use a simple past to make sense of the prompt.

Am still doubting why D cannot be the answer, How can had doubt be in simple past tense. Had doubt must be past perfect and Doubted is simple past. Im sorry if i sound moron but am really not understanding what am i missing out here ??

Hi longhaul123, the structure of past perfect is:

had + past particiiple

Past particiiple of the verb doubt is doubted.

So, the past perfect tense of the verb doubt would be had doubted. Hence, had doubt is not past perfect.

Incidentally, the real source of confusion here is that in this sentence, doubt is not used as a verb, but as a noun.

When used as noun, following would be the various tense forms (note that have is the verb here):

I have a doubt.
- Present tense

I had a doubt.
- Past tense

I have had a doubt.
- Present perfect tense

I had had a doubt.
- Past Perfect

When doubt is used as a verb, following would be the various tense forms:

I doubt.
- Present tense

I doubted.
- Past tense

I have doubted.
- Present perfect tense

I had doubted.
- Past Perfect

The structures have had and had had are often a source of confusion for test-takers. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses have had and had had. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

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There is no need to make one's life miserable by going into the aspect of past perfect tense and past tense first. After all, you cannot compare a dead body to a man. It should be only in the possessive case of a man. Therefore A, B, and C can be given the boot.

Between D and E, basic intuition can tell us that use of the present tense 'have' in choice D has no licit place in this context.
Therefore, E is the ultimate.
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It should jump off the screen when we see the two different comparisons: "the body was the man" and "the body was that of the man", hence A, B, and C are out.

Once they had seen the report from the medical examiner, the investigators did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison.

(A) did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was

(B) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was

(C) had not doubted that the body recovered from the river was

(D) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was that of - the past perfect tense in the beginning indicates that the verb "have" is incorrect;

(E) had no doubt that the body recovered from the river was that of - good

If we can follow the sequence of this events clearly in this question, it will help us arrive at the right answer choice quickly.

Let’s see here: After the investigators saw the report, they had no doubt about the identity of the body.

Now, the sentence says,
Once they had seen the report…. The investigators … (past tense) no doubt … was the man…

When we scan the options, we see that there are only two options with ‘had’ at the beginning. We can eliminate the other options right away.

Option D is OUT because ‘have’ signifies present tense and we need past tense here. Substitute the option back into the question to see the tense jump.

Option B is OUT of the running because it incorrectly compares ‘the body’ to ‘the man’. What it means is a ‘the body was that of …’

Therefore, Option E is the best choice.

Hope this helps!
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Adding to the discussion, between D & E. There is a subtle meaning based discussion. IF you dont have a doubt about something, you mention that something. YOu dont still deliberate. Hence the usage of whether in D doesnt go well with the "no doubt".

A humble request - Please give KUDOS if you like the below explanation. Motivation helps!
Let us first dissect the sentence.
Once they had seen the report from the medical examiner, - this is a phrase that is modifying the investigators. Here the past perfect tense verb had is used meaning that we will compare it with another past event.
the investigators did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison.
‘The body …was the man‘ is incorrect. In this case ‘The body… was that of‘ is needed.
The two events that happened in the past that are compared are
1) Earlier event with ‘had‘ of seeing the report.
2) The later event of doubting.
"had no doubt" is not in PAST PERFECT tense. In fact it is in SIMPLE PAST tense. Here doubt is used as a noun and not an action. Hence had no doubt is in simple past.

If you are still reading this post I humbly request you to please give KUDOS.

(A) did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was

‘The body …was the man‘ is incorrect. In this case ‘The body… was that of‘ is needed.
"had no doubt" is needed to have the effect of comparing two events in the past
Doubt should be followed by that instead of whether.


(B) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was

‘The body …was the man‘ is incorrect. In this case ‘The body… was that of‘ is needed.
"had no doubt" is needed to have the effect of comparing two events in the past
Doubt should be followed by that instead of whether.



(C) had not doubted that the body recovered from the river was

‘The body …was the man‘ is incorrect. In this case ‘The body… was that of‘ is needed.

(D) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was that of

"had no doubt" is needed to have the effect of comparing two events in the past
Doubt should be followed by that instead of whether.


(E) had no doubt that the body recovered from the river was that of

The use of had is incorrect in this sentence.

Please motivate me and don’t forget to give KUDOS after you have finished reading the post.
Answer is E

1. The sequence of events is (i) the body is recovered from the river and (ii) investigators examine the report and have no doubt
2. All the latest - 1 events get past perfect tense (had)
3. Past perfect tense also requires had to be followed by a verb

Options A, B and C - Can be eliminated because (whether the body recovered from the river was) it erroneously refers to the body as the man. The body actually is that of the man is the correct usage

Options D and E - The event occurred in the past so we need past tense and option E uses that using 'had'
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Once they had seen the report from the medical examiner, the investigators did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was the man who had attempted to escape from the state prison.

(A) did not doubt whether the body recovered from the river was -> there are 2 issues, 1) tense error, we need "had v3 form", 2) Incorrect comparison of "the body" with "the man".

(B) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was -> Same as A.

(C) had not doubted that the body recovered from the river was -> we have incorrect comparison of "the body" with "the man".

(D) have no doubt whether the body recovered from the river was that of -> Same as A.

(E) had no doubt that the body recovered from the river was that of -> It is better. Comparison is improved as well, of "the body" with " the body of the man".

So, I think E.