Identify the part containing a grammatical or structural error:
Hardly had he left the room when the guests have arrived.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The segment "when the guests have arrived" contains a grammatical error.
Explanation:
The sentence follows the structure "Hardly + had + subject + V3... when + subject + V2". This is used to show that one action happened immediately after another in the past.
Tense Mismatch: The first part of the sentence ("Hardly had he left") uses the Past Perfect tense, which refers to a completed action in the past. Therefore, the subsequent action must also be in the past.
Correction: The phrase "have arrived" (Present Perfect) is incorrect in this context. It should be changed to "arrived" (Simple Past) to maintain temporal consistency.
Correct Sentence: "Hardly had he left the room when the guests arrived."