Wei Ling did further research on 'no sooner...than' and sent me a link. (Voila!That's what being a true independent learner is about. Teachers aren't adequate in all knowledge all the time and here's how students can compliment us.)
Here are some points I extracted from the BBC link, especially in the sequencing of events mentioned.
“No sooner had I arrived at the station than (not spelt as 'then') the train came in.' -- I arrived at the station first, then the train came in.
“No sooner had I put the phone down than it rang again.” -- I put the phone down first, then the phone rang again.
And yes, I know using 'than' sounds as awkward to you as it does to me. But we can't flout the grammar rule here. And yes, the expert on the BBC site agrees with us too! He said he would 'expect to read it, maybe write it, but I probably wouldn’t say it'.
Remember I also raised the point in class on whether 'no sooner' should be used with past tense 'did' or past perfect tense? I found an English forum which said that both tenses can be used interchangeably without any changes in meaning. The past perfect tense just emphasizes the sequence of actions a bit more strongly.
No sooner had I done something than... = No sooner did I do something than...
No sooner had the bird flown than... = No sooner did the bird fly than...
~Hope we're all more enlightened after the sharing. Occasional info-sharing posts that enhances knowledge make this blog more worthy in itself. That's why I must also have Kim Yao to thank for teaching me about the properties of Nitrogen ><
It's a good thing to see this blog up and alive. I hope more would start posting, especially those who hardly speak up in class. We're all busy in class and there's hardly any time for informal sharing so this blog is a good avenue to start with.
If you have doubts about school content, post it up and we'll see how we can all help and learn in the process.~
Bye for now...off to pick up parents for a good lunch!
