Identify the grammatically correct option to complete the statement:
At no time during the cross-examination ________ the witness contradict her initial sworn deposition.
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: B. did
Answer: did. Why not the others: 'has' and 'had' would require the past participle 'contradicted' rather than the base form 'contradict'; 'was' would require a present participle or passive participle, making 'was the witness contradict' ungrammatical.
- Step 1: Analyze the opening prepositional phrase 'At no time', which acts as an initial negative temporal adverbial requiring subject-auxiliary inversion.
- Step 2: Observe the base verb 'contradict' following the subject 'the witness'. The auxiliary 'did' is required to support the base form in simple past tense.
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