Shree Ganeshay Namah
Use of as soon as, No sooner-than, hardly -when
Table of Contents
Introduction
We use various words to denote the time of action in our spoken or written English. Basically as soon as, No sooner-than, Hardly-when are used in complex sentences to show the time of the action or the sequence of them.
Using as soon as, no sooner-than, hardly-when is a very handy skill to make your English communication better and more effective.
We are going to learn it here in detail.
What is the meaning of as soon as
We will try to understand the meaning of as soon as with the help of an example.
Eg. As soon as the teacher entered the class, students stood up.
In this example, there are two actions that took place immediately one after the other.
The first action is “the teacher entered the class”
The second action is “the students stood up.”
Here the sequence of the actions is very important. We use as soon as to denote which is the first action in a given sentence and the clause after the comma shows which action took place immediately after the first action
So it is clear that as soon as is a conjunction and it is used to show the sequence of two actions that took place one after the other.
What are the similar expressions for as soon as
Similar expressions for as soon as are when, no sooner-than, and hardly-when. These expressions have similar meanings and use as we have seen for as soon as. But we use no sooner and hardly in rare situations and we can easily replace them by IMMEDIATELY AFTER
The name of the clause in which as soon as, no sooner-than, hardly-when, when are used
As soon as, no sooner-than, hardly-when, when are the subordinating conjunctions used in complex sentences of adverb clause of time which shows the time of action in the main clause.
Tenses in which as soon as is used
Normally we use as soon as in the simple present and simple past tense sentences but sometimes we can use it in present perfect and past perfect.
In the simple present, we can denote the future without using will/shall.
Eg. 1)We will start the function as soon as he comes.
Not he will come.
Position of as soon as
We can use as soon as at the beginning of the sentence or in the middle of it with a subordinate clause. It will not affect the meaning.
Eg. 1)As soon as the bird saw him, he ran away.
Or
1)He ran away as soon as the bird saw him.
Examples of as soon as in the simple present and present perfect tense.
We will see some examples of as soon as in the simple present and present perfect tense.
Eg. 1)as soon as the bell rings, we run out.
2)He starts work as soon as he reaches his office.
3)As soon as she leaves home, she has caught a cab.
4)He drinks water as soon as he takes a rest.
5)He goes to bed as soon as he has dinner.
Examples of as soon as in simple past and past perfect tense.
1)As soon as I stopped speaking, people started clapping.
2)As soon as I had stopped speaking, people started clapping.
3)As soon as we won the match, we started celebrating.
4)As soon as John got off the bus, he called his friend.
5)They submitted the test as soon as the bell rang.
How to use no sooner than in sentences.
We can use no sooner- than as follows.
1)When we called him, he responded.
Answer- No sooner did we call him than he responded.
2) When we call him, he responds.
Answer- No sooner do we call him than he responds.
3)As soon as he is ready, we will go.
Answer- No sooner is he ready than we will go
4) As soon as she writes a story, She reads it aloud.
Answer- No sooner does she read a story than she reads it.
How to use hardly when in the sentences
Mostly hardly -when is used in past perfect tense sentences as follows. Sometimes we use Scarcely-when in place of Hardly-when
- Hardly had the race started when we started cheering.
- Hardly had the program begun when we reached there.
- Hardly had you asked a question when he answered it.
- Scarcely had you asked a question when he answered it.
Exercise for using as soon as, no sooner-than, hardly-when and when correctly in the sentences.
1)He reached home. His friends called him.
Answer
As soon as he reached home, his friends called him.
No sooner did he reach home than his friends called him.
Hardly had he reached home when his friends called him.
When he reached home, his friends called him.
2)He scored a goal. Spectators started jumping.
Answer
As soon as he scored a goal, spectators started jumping.
No sooner did he score a goal than spectators started jumping.
Hardly had he scored a goal when spectators started jumping.
When he scored a goal, spectators started jumping.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, we can conclude that we can use as soon as in complex sentences where two actions take place immediately after each other. As soon as is used in the sentence which indicates the first action.
Also, we can use no sooner-than, hardly-when, or when in place of it. Use of as soon as and when is common but no sooner-than and hardly when are used very rarely.
Do inform us what do you think about it through your comments.
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