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Important structures for speaking and writing.

  • Do you use these structures in your speaking? If not, start today.

These can be useful when you want to say something happened immediately after something else, while telling a story or incident of past in your speaking or writing.

  • Hardly had I arrived home when the telephone rang. (I had hardly arrived home when the telephone rang.)
  • Scarcely had she finished reading when she fell asleep. (She had scarcely finished reading when she fell asleep.)
  • Barely had they won the match when the coach had a heart attack. (They had barely won the match when the coach had a heart attack.)
  • No sooner had the company launched its new product than it went bankrupt. (The company had no sooner launched its new product than it went bankrupt.)
  • No sooner did they realize that they had made a mistake than the company went bankrupt. (They no sooner realized that they had made a mistake than the company went bankrupt.)
  • No sooner had I reached home than I found I lost my keys on the way.( I found that I had lost my keys as soon as I reached my home.)
 Note that with hardly, scarcely and barely we use when to connect the two clauses, while with no sooner we use than (sooner is the comparative form of soon). The activity that happened first is used in simple past or past perfect with hardly, no sooner, barely etc. and the thing which happened later on is used in simple past with second part like when or than.


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