[Grammar] No sooner

[faisaljan]

1. No sooner we left the shop it began to rain.
OR
2. No sooner we left the shop when it began to rain.

 

[Matthew Wai]

No sooner had we left the shop than it began to rain.
Hardly had we left the shop when it began to rain.
Not a teacher.

 

[Barb_D]

No sooner had we left the shop than it began to rain. :up:
Hardly had we left the shop when it began to rain. :down:
Not a teacher.

At least in my dialect, "Hardly had we" is not used.
We had hardly left when...
We had barely left when...

You have the "no sooner" part exactly right.

 

[tzfujimino]

At least in my dialect, "Hardly has we" is not used.

Hello.:-D
I'd like to quote from Practical English Usage (Third Edition) by Michael Swan.
On page 281, he says:

[...] Inversion is also used after restrictive words like hardly (in BrE), seldom, rarely, little and never, and after only + time expression. This is formal or literary.
Hardly had I arrived when trouble started. (BrE) [...]

So, it's correct in BrE. It's not used in AmE.:-D

 

[faisaljan]

Is it also possible?
Scarcely had we left the shop when it began to rain.

 

[Barb_D]

Glad I added the caveat about it not be used in my dialect.

 

[Roman55]

Is it also possible?
Scarcely had we left the shop when it began to rain.

I am not a teacher.

'Hardly', 'barely' and 'scarcely' can all be used more or less interchangeably in this sort of phrase. It can sound a bit dated, though.

"No sooner had we left..." can also be expressed by "No sooner did we leave..."

 

[tzfujimino]

Is it also possible?
Scarcely had we left the shop when it began to rain.

Yes, it is: http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/scarcely
:-D

 

[Matthew Wai]

At least in my dialect, "Hardly had we" is not used.

Do you mean New York dialect?

Also, I found something amiss: hardly had I thanked for your post when the OP's "thanked" disappeared.

 

[SoothingDave]

Do you mean New York dialect?

I think she just meant American dialect.

She's not from New York.

 

[Barb_D]

I consider myself a New Yorker actually. I spent ages 1-22 living in that state. However my parents are from California and the South, which influenced my speech greatly. I've lived only in the northeastern part of the country. But yes, I did mean "American" in general.

 

[SoothingDave]

I believed you to be in eastern PA. Didn't know you were from NY. No offense meant.

 

[Barb_D]

I currently live in PA but I will never consider myself a Pennsylvanian. It's not "home." But certainly nothing offensive either way!