Discussion
In the sentence below, a part is printed in bold. Choose the alternative that best replaces it. If no improvement is needed, choose ‘No correction required’.
Scarcely had she left the office than the telephone rang.
Answer: B
Correct answer: when
Scarcely pairs with when; only no sooner pairs with than. The distinction is grammatical: sooner is a comparative and requires than to complete it, while scarcely and hardly are not comparatives and take the temporal when. The rest of the sentence is correctly built and worth noticing for that reason. The restrictive adverb has been fronted, so the subject and auxiliary are inverted - had she left, not she had left. And the earlier action stands in the past perfect while the later one takes the simple past: had left followed by rang. Both features would be equally required in the no sooner version: No sooner had she left the office than the telephone rang. The four correct pairings are hardly…when, scarcely…when, barely…when and no sooner…than.
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