Directions: The following sentence has been divided into parts. One of them…
2025
Directions: The following sentence has been divided into parts. One of them contains an error. Select the part that contains the error from the given options.
Hardly had everybody(A)/ taken his seat(B)/ than Dr. Smith began his lecture.(C)/ No error(D)
- A.
A
- B.
B
- C.
C
- D.
D
Attempted by 29 students.
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Correct answer: C
Solution: The clause that contains the error is the part that uses "than Dr. Smith began his lecture."
Key point: After "Hardly had..." the correct correlative is "when," not "than."
Grammar structure: "Hardly" at the start of the clause triggers subject–auxiliary inversion (e.g., "Hardly had everybody...").
"When" pairs correctly with "hardly" in this construction ("Hardly had ... when ...").
"Than" is used with the different correlative "no sooner...than," so it is wrong here.
Corrected sentence: Hardly had everybody taken his seat when Dr. Smith began his lecture.