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No Sooner Than Practice (B1-B2) - English Grammar Quiz

⏱ Time: 07:30 📝 Questions: 15 📊 Level: B1, B2 📚 Type: Grammar ⭐ XP: up to +16 (on pass)

This 15-question No Sooner Than practice quiz walks you through the topic step by step — from basic recognition to real-world application. Tailored for Level B1-B2, with clear explanations after every question. Great for building confidence before moving to harder topics.

⏱ You have 07:30 to answer 15 questions. The timer only starts when you click Begin.

Q1  15
Q1 15

Question 1: No sooner ___ she arrived home than the phone rang.

Question 1 options
'had' is correct because 'no sooner than' requires the past perfect (had + past participle) in the first clause to show that one action happened immediately before another. 'has', 'was', and 'did' do not form the correct past perfect structure here.
Q2 15

Question 2: No sooner had the teacher left the room ___ the students started talking.

Question 2 options
'than' is correct because 'no sooner...than' is a fixed correlative conjunction pair. 'when', 'that', and 'as' are used with similar expressions like 'hardly...when' or 'scarcely...when', but not with 'no sooner'.
Q3 15

Question 3: In a 'no sooner...than' sentence, the verb in the main clause (after 'no sooner') must be in the past perfect tense.

Question 3 options
True. 'No sooner' triggers inversion and requires the past perfect (had + past participle) in the 'no sooner' clause to indicate that an action happened immediately before the one in the 'than' clause.
Q4 15

Question 4: What does 'no sooner...than' express in a sentence?

Question 4 options
'No sooner...than' expresses that one action happened immediately after another, emphasising how quickly the second event followed the first. It does not express conditions, contrast, or simultaneous actions.
Q5 15

Question 5: Arrange the words to make a correct sentence:

Question 5 options
  • the film started
  • No sooner
  • had we sat down
  • than

Drag items or use arrows to arrange them in the correct order.

The correct order is 'No sooner had we sat down than the film started' because 'no sooner' triggers subject-auxiliary inversion ('had we'), and 'than' introduces the result clause.
Q6 15

Question 6: Which sentence uses 'no sooner...than' correctly?

Question 6 options
'No sooner had he opened the door than it started raining' is correct because it uses past perfect with subject-auxiliary inversion after 'no sooner' and 'than' to connect the clauses. The other options use wrong tenses or wrong conjunctions.
Q7 15

Question 7: A student says: 'I want to describe how my train left just as I reached the platform.' Which sentence best fits this situation?

Question 7 options
'No sooner had I reached the platform than the train left' correctly uses 'no sooner...than' to show that the train leaving happened immediately after arriving at the platform. The other options do not accurately reflect this immediate sequence.
Q8 15

Question 8: Which sentence correctly uses 'no sooner...than' rather than 'hardly...when'?

Question 8 options
'No sooner had she finished eating than she felt sick' correctly pairs 'no sooner' with 'than'. 'Hardly...when' is a different correlative pair; 'no sooner' must always be paired with 'than', not 'when'.
Q9 15

Question 9: Put the words/clauses in the correct order:

Question 9 options
  • than
  • No sooner
  • had the match ended
  • the crowd cheered

Drag items or use arrows to arrange them in the correct order.

The correct order is 'No sooner had the match ended than the crowd cheered' because 'no sooner' requires inverted word order (had + subject), followed by the past participle, and 'than' introduces the next clause.
Q10 15

Question 10: No sooner ___ the lights went out in the whole building.

Question 10 options
'had the engineer touched the switch than' is correct because 'no sooner...than' requires subject-auxiliary inversion with past perfect in the first clause. The other options use incorrect word order or the wrong conjunction.
Q11 15

Question 11: Which statement about the grammar rule of 'no sooner...than' is true?

Question 11 options
When 'no sooner' begins a sentence, the auxiliary verb 'had' must come before the subject (inversion), giving the structure 'No sooner had + subject + past participle'. This inversion is obligatory, not optional.
Q12 15

Question 12: Rewrite the sentence keeping the same meaning: 'As soon as they heard the news, they called the police.' → No sooner ___ the police.

Question 12 options
'had they heard the news than they called' is correct because the transformation into 'no sooner...than' requires past perfect with subject-auxiliary inversion in the first clause. The other options use wrong tense, wrong conjunction, or wrong word order.
Q13 15

Question 13: Match each sentence to the correct grammar label.

Question 13 options
No sooner had she left the office than it began to rain.
No sooner she had left the office than it began to rain.
No sooner had she left the office when it began to rain.
Hardly had she left the office when it began to rain.
Correct use of the parallel structure 'hardly...when'
Correct use of 'no sooner...than' with inversion and past perfect
Missing subject-auxiliary inversion after 'no sooner'
Wrong conjunction: 'when' used instead of 'than'

Select an item on the left, then tap its match on the right.

'No sooner...than' requires past perfect with inversion. The second clause uses simple past. 'Hardly...when' and 'scarcely...when' are parallel structures but pair with 'when', not 'than'.
Q14 15

Question 14: It is acceptable to use 'no sooner...than' without subject-auxiliary inversion when 'no sooner' appears at the beginning of the sentence.

Question 14 options
False. When 'no sooner' is placed at the beginning of a sentence, subject-auxiliary inversion is obligatory. The correct structure is 'No sooner had + subject + past participle', not 'No sooner + subject + had'.
Q15 15

Question 15: Which sentence is more appropriate for formal written English to express immediate sequence?

Question 15 options
'No sooner had the president signed the agreement than talks began' is more appropriate for formal written English because 'no sooner...than' is a literary and formal structure used to emphasise immediacy. The simple 'as soon as' version is correct but more neutral and informal.