Question

Which sentence is grammatically correct?

• A. Scarcely had I entered than the meeting began.
• B. Scarcely had I entered when the meeting began.
• C. Scarcely I had entered when the meeting began.
• D. Scarcely had entered I when the meeting began.

Answer 1

Answer:

B. Scarcely had I entered when the meeting began.

• Scarcely…when is the correct pair of words used to show that one event happened immediately before another.

• When a sentence begins with Scarcely, we use inversion: Scarcely + had + subject + past participle.

• Here, had I entered is the correct past perfect structure, and the meeting began is in the simple past tense.

Why the other options are incorrect:

• A) Scarcely had I entered than the meeting began. — Than is incorrect; use when with scarcely.

• C) Scarcely I had entered when the meeting began. — The word order is incorrect; use had I entered.

• D) Scarcely had entered I when the meeting began. — The subject I is incorrectly placed after the past participle.