Find the part of the sentence that contains an error:
No sooner the results were announced (1)/ than the shareholders (2)/ started questioning the management's (3)/ strategic decisions. (4)/
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The correct answer is option 1 i.e. (1).
Error concept: related to the Inversion of Verb after negative introductory phrases.
What is wrong: The phrase 'No sooner the results were' is incorrectly structured because it lacks the necessary inversion.
Grammatical concept: When a sentence begins with negative adverbs or phrases like 'No sooner,' 'Hardly,' or 'Scarcely,' we must use inversion. This means the helping verb (did or had) must come before the subject.
Structure: No sooner + had/did + subject + ... + than.
Incorrectness of the concept in context: In segment 1, the subject (the results) is placed before the verb (were). This normal sentence order is incorrect when starting with 'No sooner.'
How to correct: We must place the auxiliary verb before the subject. Since the action happened in the past, we should use 'had' or 'did.'
Correction: No sooner had the results been announced... OR No sooner were the results announced...
Correct phrase: No sooner had the results been
Final sentence: No sooner had the results been announced than the shareholders started questioning the management's strategic decisions.
Hence, the chosen option is correct.