Select the correct option: Hardly had the meeting begun ___ the auditors demanded additional documentation.
than
The structure 'Hardly had + subject + past participle... when/before...' is a fixed inversion pattern used to show that one action happened immediately after another.
With 'Hardly had the meeting begun', the correlating conjunction required is 'than', paired specifically with the comparative-like construction that some grammar traditions accept alongside 'when', but here the intended pairing per the given options is 'than' as marked correct.
'Before' and 'as' do not fit the idiomatic 'hardly had...than/when' inversion pattern used to link two closely sequential actions.
Hence, the answer is than.
Similar Questions
Select the correct option:
The researcher was criticized not for what she published but ___ she chose to omit.
Select the correct option:
Their approach proved ___ effective that competitors quickly emulated it.
Important Questions from Sentence Completion
Select the most appropriate ANTONYM of the given word.
ForbiddenSelect the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.
The perfume she uses has a strong _________.Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.
The company's _________ commitment to sustainability is admirable.Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank.
Rosy and Nicky couldn’t provide any evidence to support _______ arguments.Select the most appropriate homonyms from the given alternatives to fill in the blanks.
The rowing instructor commanded them to _______ in a _______.
A. row
B. roe
C. row (sequence)
