Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[Yukineko]

Hello teachers, could you help me with the following sentences?

Could you tell me which one is grammatically correct?

#1 Who was the first person to go to the universe?
#2 Who is the first person that has been to the universe?
#3 Who was the first person that had been to the universe?
I think #1 and #3 are correct. Is that right?

How about this one? Is the following sentence grammatically correct?

"What country successfully launched a space rocket for the first time?"

Thanks in advance.
Yukineko.

[Afra]

Following are the right sentences with alternative sentences.

Who was the first person to go into the universe?
Who is the first person that has been in the universe?
Who was the first person that had been in the universe?

[IanT]

If you're talking about space travel, you want to use the term "go into space", because "the universe" is everywhere, including down on the surface of the planet going nowhere!

So the simplest and most natural correct sentence would be:

"Who was the first person to go into space?"

You could also say

"Who was the first person that went into space?"

but the first one is better!

For your last sentence:

"What country successfully launched a space rocket for the first time?"

you need to change "What" to "Which". We use which when the number of possibilities is limited.

Hope helps,
ian
_________________
All my answers refer to British English.

www.EnglishSwearing.com - How to use all the bad words! ... and ... www.throdworld.com - Silly verses to make you happy.

You decide the price for both!

[Yukineko]

Dear IanT and Afra.

Thank you for telling me the correct expressions.
Now I understand how to express it.

I really appreciate your help!

Yukineko