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Question

Difficulty: EasyConjunctions and Clause Structure

Which option correctly completes the sentence below?

Hardly had the manager stepped into the office _____ the telephone rang.

  1. whenAnswer
  2. B
    than
  3. C
    then
  4. D
    that

Answer

The conjunction 'when' correctly completes the sentence.
The sentence uses the inverted restrictive structure starting with 'Hardly', which obligatorily pairs with the subordinator 'when' to express two immediate consecutive events.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the introductory restrictive adverbial structure.
The sentence begins with 'Hardly had...', which uses an inverted auxiliary-subject structure.
Sentences introduced by restrictive adverbs such as 'hardly', 'scarcely', or 'barely' require inverted word order in the main clause.
2
Determine the correct correlative subordinator.
The adverb 'hardly' pairs specifically with 'when' to connect the main clause to the time clause.
Standard grammatical convention dictates that 'hardly... when' expresses two events occurring in immediate sequence.

Key Concept

Correlative Conjunctions and Clause Structure
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Topics

Conjunctions and Clause Structure

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