no sooner+when

[ostap77]

"No sooner did she come into the room,when she heard an outburst of laughter." I've heard that the use of "than" or "when" is a most disputable question. Is it acceptable to use when with no sooner?

[TheParser]

"No sooner did she come into the room,when she heard an outburst of laughter." I've heard that the use of "than" or "when" is a most disputable question. Is it acceptable to use when with no sooner?

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) According to most books, the answer to your question is NO.

(2) Our esteemed Mr. Swan says:

hardly ... when/before ...

scarcely ... when/before ...

no sooner ... than ...

His examples:

I had no sooner closed the door than somebody knocked.
We no sooner sat down in the train than I felt sick.
No sooner had she agreed to marry him than she started to have terrible doubts.
No sooner did Steve start going out with Tracy than she fell in love with Jasper.

After quoting so extensively, I had better give full credit to:

Michael Swan, Practical English Usage ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).

P.S. The great L.G. Alexander in his wonderful Longman English
Grammar agrees that "than" is the correct word after "no sooner."

P.P.S. The scholar George O. Curme observes that some people

do incorrectly use "when."

[ostap77]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


(1) According to most books, the answer to your question is NO.

(2) Our esteemed Mr. Swan says:

hardly ... when/before ...

scarcely ... when/before ...

no sooner ... than ...

His examples:

I had no sooner closed the door than somebody knocked.
We no sooner sat down in the train than I felt sick.
No sooner had she agreed to marry him than she started to have terrible doubts.
No sooner did Steve start going out with Tracy than she fell in love with Jasper.

After quoting so extensively, I had better give full credit to:

Michael Swan, Practical English Usage ( Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995).

P.S. The great L.G. Alexander in his wonderful Longman English
Grammar agrees that "than" is the correct word after "no sooner."

P.P.S. The scholar George O. Curme observes that some people

do incorrectly use "when."

Here is info I pulled off the Net.

"- No sooner did she set eyes on the gentleman than she recognised his pecuniary position to be merely temporary.

- They were tantalizingly obscure --; no sooner did you think you'd begun to grasp the gist when it slipped through your fingers

- No sooner had she crossed a small bridge near the farm than the storm resumed with even greater intensity.

- No sooner had we done so when a staff officer drove up in a car, accused us of looting and ordered us to put the tins back in the cases."