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Question

Difficulty: EasyVerbs, Tenses, and Aspect

Complete the sentence by filling in the blank with the grammatically appropriate verb form.

Answer:No sooner had the referee sounded the final whistle than the excited spectators 【rushed】 onto the football pitch.

Answer

The correct verb form to complete the sentence is 'rushed' (or 'ran', 'surged', 'poured').
When a sentence begins with the negative inverted structure 'No sooner had...', the first action is expressed in the past perfect tense and the subsequent action introduced by 'than' must be expressed in the simple past tense (e.g., 'rushed').

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the inverted correlative conjunction structure 'No sooner ... than'.
The clause following 'No sooner had + subject + past participle' introduces the subsequent event using 'than'.
The introductory clause 'No sooner had...' establishes a past perfect action, requiring the clause following 'than' to express the immediate subsequent action in the simple past tense.
2
Select the correct past tense verb form for the action following 'than'.
The simple past form 'rushed' correctly pairs with the past perfect construction 'had sounded'.
In English grammatical sequence of tenses, correlative structures starting with 'No sooner had' demand a simple past tense verb in the subordinate clause introduced by 'than'.

Key Concept

Correlative Conjunctions and Sequence of Tenses (No sooner ... than)
Estimated Time:45s
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Topics

Verbs, Tenses, and Aspect

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