No sooner...than, Scarcely/ Hardly / Barely... when

 

Correlative conjunctions work in pairs to add two words, phrases, or clauses that have equal importance in a sentence.

No sooner … than

If the second event occurs immediately after the first, we can express that idea using the structure no sooner … than.

Note that in this structure no sooner introduces the event that occurred first.

When we begin a sentence with a negative word, we put the auxiliary verb before the subject.

• No sooner had I arrived at the station than the train left. (= I came first and the train left right after me.)
• No sooner had we heard the noise than we rushed to the spot.
• No sooner had she finished one homework she started working on the next.
• No sooner had I closed my eyes than I fell asleep

Hardly and scarcely

It is possible to express the same idea using hardly/scarcely…when.

• Hardly had I reached the station when the train came.
• Scarcely had I reached the station when the train arrived.

So, we can conclude this way...

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