Question

Choose the option that best fills the blank:
No sooner did I take a dose of aspirin ______ I started feeling better.

• A. after
• B. than
• C. then
• D. when

Answer 1

Answer: (B)

than

Correlative Conjunction is always used in pairs and denote equality, and show the relationship between ideas expressed in different parts of a sentence - and thus make the joining tighter and more emphatic. Some examples are either/or, neither/nor, and not only/but also. The structure no sooner is used to talk about something that happens immediately after something else. It is often used with the past perfect, and usually followed by than. In the given sentence it is inferred that I took a dose of aspirin and immediately I started feeling better. These two activities take place almost simultaneously. There is no real time difference between them. Thus Option B is correct. We can use 'when' to introduce a single completed event that takes place in the middle of a longer activity or event. In these cases, we usually use a continuous verb in the main clause to describe the background event. Thus Option D is incorrect as it cannot be used along with 'no sooner'.After shows "subsequently to the time when".Thus Option A can be discarded as it is clearly mentioned in the sentence that two activities take place almost simultaneously. Option C can be ruled out as 'Then' indicates 'in that case'. We use 'then' with 'if' to talk about cause and effect but it cannot be used in association with 'no sooner' which is used in case of an event happening immediately after something else.