no sooner... than

[beachboy]

1)Which sentence is more common in everyday English?
- I no sooner had arrived home than the telephone rang
- No sooner had I arrived home than the telephone rang

2) Is this expression commonly used in the present tense. Like:
- I no sooner get home than I´ve got to take a hot shower (or I take a shower)

3)Does this last sentence have the same meaning as As soon as I get home I take a shower?

[Tdol]

- I no sooner had arrived home than the telephone rang- The word order doesn't really work here. The second example works, but because of the inversion it's not something you'll find used much in everyday informal language; the final version with 'as soon as' is more the sort of thing you'll hear in everyday usage.

[beachboy]

sorry, I meant: I had no sooner arrived home than the telephone rang... Ignore the sentence you said was wrong...

[Tdol]

Though inversion is usually seen as a feature of formal language, it occurs elsewhere; to add emphasis, for instance, which means that some people will use inverted forms in fairly casual speech, though plenty of others don't.

To be honest, if I were working up the energy to use the form, I probably would invert it too.

[beachboy]

Thanks, Tdol. Actually, I´m beginning to teach English here in Rio, and I don´t really mean to use some not common expressions, but I have to know and understand them, and consequently, be able to teach them. That´s why I may seem fussy sometimes. But I do have to know how to use them.... Sometimes I come across these expressions reading the books I teach.... You´ve been helping me a lot.