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Oct 30, 2016 · Oct 30, 2016. #3. There is nothing wrong with the sentence. And regards the other link, it says: 'Hardly/Scarcely had we sat down at the table, when the phone rang. Note that you usually use when in these sentences, not than'. That does not mean you cannot use 'than'. It simply means that 'when' is more usual.
In the example you cite, the word "Hardly" is put at the beginning of the sentence, in the same spirit as "No sooner." For this reason, using "than" instead of "when" in this case does not seem unnatural; "hardly" sits in for "no sooner." However, if you were to try to use "than" with "hardly" when it's not at the beginning, e.g.,
Aug 20, 2013 · No sooner did I arrive at the station than the train came. No sooner did we hear the noise than we rushed to the spot. Notes. When we begin a sentence with a negative word, we put the auxiliary verb before the subject. No sooner had she read the letter than she started crying. (NOT No sooner she read the letter than she started crying.)
Dec 13, 2012 · Therefore they need to go together: (a) 'No sooner had I arrived than it started to rain'. (2) 'When' here is a relative conjunction of time, which relates properly to an expression of time, but not one of comparison. 'Hardly had [something happened]' is an expression of time, but not comparison, indicating the moment after the event.
Aug 30, 2021 · Hardly and other minimizing adverbs are properly followed by when and not than in sentences like. I had hardly walked inside [when /than] it began to rain. In our 2008 survey, 79 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the use of than in the previous sentence. So the use with than is still controversial and the main argument against it is that it ...
When a story is told in the past tense, the adverbials hardly, scarcely, barely and no sooner are often used to emphasise that one event quickly followed another. The verb describing the earlier event is usually in the past perfect tense. If hardly, scarcely, barely and no sooner are in the initial position, the subject and auxiliary are ...
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We can use hardly or no sooner to say that two things happened in quick succession (i.e. there was a very short space of time between the two things happening). Hardly. We say hardly . . . when / before . . . to say that something happened and another thing happened very soon afterwards. I'd (I had) hardly finished cleaning up the mess when ...
