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Difficulty: MediumVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

No sooner had the chief negotiator announced the breakthrough in peace talks than the assembled delegates _____ into spontaneous applause. Which verb form correctly completes the sentence?

  1. burstAnswer
  2. B
    had burst
  3. C
    bursted
  4. D
    would burst

Answer

The verb form 'burst' correctly completes the sentence because the clause following 'than' after an inverted past perfect construction ('No sooner had...') must take the simple past tense.
In standard English grammar, the formulaic structure 'No sooner had + subject + past participle... than + subject + simple past' expresses two events occurring in rapid succession in the past. Therefore, the clause following 'than' requires the simple past tense. Because 'burst' is an irregular verb with identical base and past tense forms, 'burst' is the grammatically correct choice.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the clause structure and sequence of tenses.
The initial clause uses 'No sooner had...', which introduces an inverted past perfect action.
Correlative temporal constructions with 'No sooner... than' require the earlier action in the past perfect and the immediate subsequent action in the simple past.
2
Determine the correct tense and morphology for the missing verb.
The verb must be in the simple past tense, and its standard form is 'burst'.
The verb 'burst' is irregular and retains the same form ('burst') across present, past, and past participle forms.

Key Concept

Sequence of Tenses with Inverted Correlative Clauses
Estimated Time:1m 0s
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Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

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