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Difficulty: MediumConjunctions and Clause Structure

Complete the sentence below by supplying the correct subordinating conjunction that completes the correlative clause structure.

Answer:Scarcely had the minister completed his opening address at the parliamentary summit 【when】 the opposition members raised points of order regarding procedural irregularities.

Answer

The correct conjunction to introduce the time clause following 'Scarcely had...' is 'when' (or 'before').
When a sentence begins with the restrictive adverb 'Scarcely' (or 'Hardly'), standard English clause structure requires subject-verb inversion in the main clause and the subordinating conjunction 'when' or 'before' to introduce the introducing time clause.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the main clause structure and initial adverbial element
The sentence begins with the restrictive adverb 'Scarcely' followed by subject-auxiliary inversion ('had the minister completed').
In formal English syntax, fronted negative or restrictive adverbs mandate subject-auxiliary inversion in the main clause.
2
Identify the required correlative conjunction pair
The introductory restrictive word 'Scarcely' forms a correlative pair strictly with 'when' or 'before' to connect the subsequent dependent clause.
Using 'than' is ungrammatical here, as 'than' correlates exclusively with 'No sooner'.

Key Concept

Correlative Conjunctions and Inverted Clause Structures
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Topics

Conjunctions and Clause Structure

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