Question

Replace the underlined part of the sentence with a suitable option, if necessary:
Hardly had he reached home when the telephone rang.
A)he had reached
B)did he reach
C)he reached
D)No improvement

Answer 1

Hint: An adverbial is a word used to modify a clause or a verb. Hardly acts as an adverbial in the given sentence.

Complete step-by-step answer:

From the hint given to us, we know that an adverbial is a word used to modify a clause or a verb. Hardly acts as an adverbial in the given sentence. The given sentence is in the past tense. We should know that when adverbials are used to report a past event and are placed at the beginning of the sentence, the subject and the auxiliary interchange their positions. The auxiliary comes at the initial position, followed by the subject and then the verb. We observe that the underlined part of the sentence is following the rule. Hence, option D is the correct answer.
In the first option, we observe that the subject precedes the auxiliary, that is, auxiliary is not at the initial position. Hence, option A is not the correct answer.
In the second option, the past perfect tense is absent. The past perfect tense has to be used as it precedes the past event of the phone ringing. Hence options B is incorrect.
In the third option, simple past tense has been used. The past perfect tense has to be used as it precedes the past event of the phone ringing. Hence, option C is incorrect.


Note: An adverbial is different from an adverb. Adverbs describe the verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs, whereas, an adverbial is a word or a phrase acting as an adverb.