Select the most appropriate option that can substitute the underlined segment in the given sentence.
Hardly we had boarded the train when it started to move.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
The correct answer is option 4 i.e. had we boarded.
Error concept: Inversion after negative adverbs.
What is wrong: 'Hardly we had' is incorrect to use
Grammatical concept: When negative adverbs like hardly, scarcely, barely, or no sooner begin a sentence, they require inversion (auxiliary verb + subject).
Incorrectness of the concept in context: Without inversion, the sentence sounds grammatically wrong. The sentence incorrectly places the subject before the auxiliary verb: “Hardly we had boarded” instead of “Hardly had we boarded.”
How to correct: We correct it by placing “had” before “we”.
Correction: had we boarded
Final sentence: Hardly had we boarded the train when it started to move.