Question

She started reading. She fell asleep.
(Start with: No sooner...........)

Hint:

Make sure you spell the conjunction as than (comparative) and not then (temporal). Writing “then” is a very common grammatical error.

Answer 1

Step 1: Understanding the Rule for 'No sooner':
Similar to “Hardly,” the introductory phrase “No sooner” requires grammatical inversion (placing the auxiliary verb before the subject) to express immediate chronological succession.

Step 2: Structuring the Clauses:
The adverb “No sooner” is correlative and must be paired with “than” to connect the subsequent event. The template is: No sooner + auxiliary verb (had) + subject + past participle (started) + than + simple past clause.

Step 3: Assembling the Sentence:
Following this rule produces: “No sooner had she started reading than she fell asleep.”