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The first thing a couple say once they find out they are having twins is 'But we don't have a history of twins in our family'

The doctor says: How do you think the first twins in a family came to be. There always is a first.

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Philip · Accepted Answer

Anonymouscame to be

comes to be is a better tense here.

KJinCali79 · Answer

AnonymousThe first thing a couple say once they find out they are having twins is 'But we don't have a history of twins in our family'The doctor says: How do you think the first twins in a family came to be. There always is a first.

The first thing a couple says once they find out they are having twins is, "But we don't have a history of twins in our family."
The doctor says, "How do you think the first (set of) twins in a family comes to be? There is always a first."

You have two nouns that refer to two people, however, they are singular: "couple" and "twins." This means that say should be says in the first sentence. In the doctor's reply comes/come to be is a better tense than came to be; but it also depends on how you are treating the twins, either individually or collectively. For this reason, I added in parentheses "set of twins" which would dictate "comes to be" and I think this is the best choice because he is specifying "the first" occurrence of twins. But the doctor could have also said, "How do you think twins in a family come to be?"

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