grammar (inversion after negative adverbials) · formal
Hardly had + subject + past participle + when + clause
Inversion after negative adverbials: 'Hardly had + subject + past participle + when + clause' expresses that one action was immediately followed by another.
Examples
“Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang.”
“Hardly had the show begun when it started raining heavily.”
“Hardly had she left the office when a client called.”
Band 8 sentence
“Hardly had the committee released its interim report when stakeholders began demanding immediate reforms.”
Collocations
- Hardly had + subject + past participle + when + clause
Common mistakes
Hardly I had sat down when the phone rang.→Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang.
Hardly had I sat down then the phone rang.→Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang.
Hardly had I sat down when the phone had rang.→Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang.
Say it for a higher band
5I sat down and then the phone rang→6I had hardly sat down when the phone rang (missing inversion)→7+Hardly had + subject + past participle + when + clause
Synonyms
No sooner + had + subject + past participle + than + clause
Easily confused
No sooner + had + subject + past participle + than + clause
“No sooner had I closed the door than the alarm went off.”
When + clause (normal order)
“When I had sat down, the phone rang.”
Related words
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In Tenses
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