Question

Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option.

No sooner did I hear the bell ____ I sat out.

• A. When
• B. Then
• C. Hardly
• D. Than

Answer 1

The correct option is D 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 heard the bell and immediately I stepped out. These two activities take place almost simultaneously. There is no real time difference between them. Thus option D is correct.Option B can also 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 to talk about something that happens immediately after something else. 'Hardly' is followed by when and it is used to combine or rewrite sentences denoting two simultaneously past actions. Thus option C in discarded as in the sentence two simultaneously present actions have been combined. 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 A is incorrect as it cannot be used along with 'no sooner'