Question

No sooner _________ the station, than the train arrived

• A. I had reached
• B. when I reached
• C. had I reached
• D. have I reached

Answer 1

Answer:

C. had I reached

Understanding the 'No sooner...than' Construction

• The phrase 'No sooner...than' is an adverbial conjunction used to indicate that one event happened immediately after another.
• It signifies a very close temporal relationship between two actions, where the second action follows the first without any significant delay.

Grammatical Structure with 'No sooner'

• When 'No sooner' begins a sentence, it triggers an inversion of the subject and the auxiliary verb in the clause that follows.
• The typical structure is: No sooner + auxiliary verb + subject + main verb (past participle) + than + second clause (simple past tense).

Example Breakdown

• No sooner had I reached the station, than the train arrived.
• Here, 'had' is the auxiliary verb, and 'I' is the subject. The inversion ('had I reached') is crucial for correct grammar.
• The main verb 'reach' is in its past participle form 'reached'.
• The second clause ('the train arrived') is in the simple past tense, indicating the subsequent event.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Using 'No sooner' without inversion: Incorrect: No sooner I had reached...
• Using the wrong tense in the second clause: Incorrect: No sooner had I reached the station, than the train arrives.
• Confusing with similar structures like 'Hardly...when' or 'Scarcely...when', which follow the same inversion rule.

Significance in Competitive Exams

• Questions involving 'No sooner...than' are frequent in grammar sections of competitive exams to test the understanding of inversion and tense agreement.
• Careful attention to the placement of the auxiliary verb and the tenses used in both clauses is key to answering these questions correctly.