Question

Identify the correct version of the given sentence:
No sooner he had asked a question than he was showered with insults.
a) No change
b) No sooner he had asked a question then he was showered with insults.
c) No sooner had he asked a question than he was showered with insults.
d) No sooner he had asked a question but he was showered with insults.

Answer 1

Hint: In the given sentence, one event is occurring immediately after the first event. In such situations, “no sooner....than” is used. This is a grammatical rule and one must keep this in mind.

Complete answer:
In the given question, we are asked to identify the correct version of the given sentence. There are two events occurring here and both are simultaneous, so it is obvious that “no soon...than” has to be used. You can use either the auxiliary “had” or “did” after the phrase “no sooner”. Moreover, you can also use the phrase after the subject + auxiliary (had/did).
Now, let us examine all the given options and find out the correct answer :
Option ‘a’ is No change. If there has to be no changes made in the given sentence, then we'll choose this option.
Option ‘b’ is No sooner he had asked a question then he was showered with insults. In this sentence, we can see the usage of “then” in place of “than”, which is completely wrong. We cannot use “then” soon after “no sooner”.
Option ‘c’ is No sooner had he asked a question than he was showered with insults. This is a grammatically correct sentence and can be the correct version of the given sentence. The auxiliary and the verb are used correctly here.
Option ‘d’ is No sooner he had asked a question but he was showered with insults. This is an incorrect sentence as “but” is never used in sentences with “no sooner...than”.
As we have analyzed all the given options, we can clearly figure out the correct answer. Here, the correct version of the sentence – ‘No sooner he had asked a question than he was showered with insults' is ‘No sooner had he asked a question than he was showered with insults.’
So, the correct answer is “Option c”.

Note:
When no sooner is used in any front position, we invert the order of the auxiliary verb and subject. This is common in more formal and literary styles. For example : No sooner had they started to walk than it started to rain.