WAEC 2010 English Language · Question 4

No sooner had war started … the soldiers deserted the village

Question

From the words lettered A to D, choose the word that best completes each of the following sentences: No sooner had war started..............the soldiers deserted the village

A.that
B.when
C.as
D.than

Answer: D. than

Explanation written with AI and checked against the answer key

Analyze the question The sentence is "No sooner had war started __ the soldiers deserted the village." You need the right word to complete a fixed grammatical structure.

Explain the concept "No sooner" is a comparative expression. It is always followed by than, never by "when", "that" or "as".

The pattern is: No sooner + had + subject + past participle + than + past simple

Examples:

No sooner had the teacher entered than the students stood up.
No sooner had I reached home than it started raining.

By contrast, "hardly" and "scarcely" are followed by when:

Hardly had he arrived when the meeting began.

Solution

The sentence begins with "No sooner had war started", so it uses the "no sooner" structure.
"No sooner" requires than to complete it.
Checking each option: • A. that: wrong, it does not pair with "no sooner". • B. when: wrong, it pairs with "hardly" or "scarcely". • C. as: wrong, it is not used in this structure. • D. than: correct.

Complete sentence: "No sooner had war started than the soldiers deserted the village."

Exam tip Remember the pairs:

No sooner... than
Hardly / Scarcely... when

"No sooner" and "than" both contain "er" sounds, which can help you link them. WAEC and JAMB test this pair often, so keep it in mind.

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