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Question

Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment. If no substitution is required select 'No substitution'.

No sooner did the police arrived that the robbers made good their escape.

This question was previously asked in
SSC-JHT Paper 1 2019 Question Paper (26-Nov-2019)
The correct answer is

did the police arrive than

No Sooner Than Sentence Correction

The sentence "No sooner did the police arrived that the robbers made good their escape" contains a grammatical error related to the structure used with the correlative conjunction 'No sooner...'. Let's break down the correct usage.

Understanding the 'No Sooner... Than...' Rule

The phrase 'No sooner... than...' is used to indicate that one event happened very quickly after another. The standard grammatical structure requires specific verb forms and conjunctions:

  • When 'No sooner' starts a sentence, it triggers subject-verb inversion.
  • If the auxiliary verb 'did' is used after 'No sooner', the main verb must be in its base form. The structure is: No sooner + did + subject + base verb + than + past simple verb.
  • Alternatively, if the auxiliary verb 'had' is used, the main verb must be in its past participle form. The structure is: No sooner + had + subject + past participle verb + than + past simple verb.
  • The conjunction that correctly follows 'No sooner' is always 'than', not 'that', 'when', or other alternatives.

Analyzing the Original Sentence

The original sentence is: "No sooner did the police arrived that the robbers made good their escape."

Let's identify the errors:

  • Verb Form: The phrase uses "did the police arrived". After the auxiliary verb "did", the main verb should be in its base form, which is "arrive", not the past participle "arrived".
  • Conjunction: The sentence uses "that" after "arrived". The correct conjunction to pair with "No sooner" is "than".

Evaluating the Options

Let's examine the provided options to find the best substitution for the underlined segment ("did the police arrived that"):

  • Option 1: "had the police arrived that" - This option correctly uses "had arrived" but incorrectly uses "that" as the conjunction.
  • Option 2: "did the police arrive than" - This option correctly uses the auxiliary "did" followed by the base verb "arrive" and employs the correct conjunction "than". This perfectly matches the required structure.
  • Option 3: "was the police arrived when" - This structure is grammatically incorrect ("was arrived" is passive and inappropriate here) and uses the wrong conjunction "when".
  • Option 4: "No substitution" - This is incorrect because the original sentence contains clear grammatical errors.

Conclusion

Option 2, "did the police arrive than", corrects both the verb form and the conjunction, making it the most appropriate substitution to complete the sentence correctly according to the rules of 'No sooner... than...' structure.

The corrected sentence reads: "No sooner did the police arrive than the robbers made good their escape."

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Similar Questions

  1. In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the underlined part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select “No improvement”

    Could you lends your pen for some time.

  2. Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment. If no substitution is required select 'No substitution'.

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Important Questions from Phrase Replacement

  1. Select the option that will improve the underlined part of the given sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select 'No improvement required'.
    The doors and windows will have painted by afternoon.
  2. Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. If there is no need to substitute it, No substitution required.

    Not knowing the language and having no acquaintances in the city, he found it hard getting work.

  3. Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence.

    Gayatri informed one of the directors that she has sent the material for printing.

  4. Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. If there is no need to substitute it, select option No substitution required.

    We had been almost halfway there when the left rear tyre blew out

  5. Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence. If there is no need to substitute it, select option No substitution required.

    The man spent a lot because he had so large amount of money.

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