Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence: No sooner had I reached the station when the tra…

Question

Choose the most suitable option to replace the highlighted part of the sentence:

No sooner had I reached the station when the train departed.

1. A. than the train departed (Correct answer)
2. B. then the train departed
3. C. when the train had departed
4. D. than did the train depart

Correct Answer

Option A — than the train departed

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is than the train departed.

Key Points

• No sooner is always followed by than, never by *when* or *then*.
• The correct sentence is: *No sooner had I reached the station than the train departed.*
• Option D adds a second inversion ('than did the train depart'), which is wrong — only the *no sooner* clause inverts, and that inversion has already been used in *had I reached*.

Additional Information

• Because *no sooner* is a negative adverbial placed at the start of the sentence, the first clause takes inversion: the auxiliary moves before the subject, giving *had I reached*.
• The parallel construction hardly/scarcely … when takes *when*, not *than* — *Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang* — and mixing the two pairs is the commonest error.
• The tense sequence is fixed: past perfect in the *no sooner* clause for the earlier action, simple past in the *than* clause for the one that followed.