No sooner là gì? Kiến thức tổng quan về cấu trúc No sooner trong tiếng Anh

For example: 

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  • No sooner will Peter arrive at the party than he will want to go out. (Peter vừa mới đến bữa tiệc nhưng anh ấy lại muốn đi ra ngoài.)

3. Points to note about the No sooner structure

The No sooner than structure is typically more prevalent in writing because if used in speech, it may not sound very natural. Instead, for comfortable communication, we often express it as follows, for example:

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  • My sister was on her way to Korea soon after she graduated. (Chị gái tôi sang Hàn Quốc ngay sau khi cô ấy tốt nghiệp.)
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  • Peter came back home after his mother finished cooking lunch. (Peter về tới nhà ngay sau khi mẹ anh ấy nấu xong bữa trưa.)

III. Differentiating similar structures to No sooner

Besides the No sooner structure, in English grammar, there are also some structures with similar meanings. So how do you use them correctly? Let's explore the answer together with Mytour here! 

1. No sooner with Hardly/Scarcely

Both No sooner and hardly/scarcely mean “almost immediately/just after”, used to talk about one event following another almost instantly. You can interchangeably use these phrases. However, there is a major difference between the two structures, which is the use of accompanying words. 

To differentiate No sooner from Hardly/Scarcely, you need to remember that No sooner is followed by “than”, while Hardly/Scarcely is followed by “when”. For example: 

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  • No sooner had our team completed that campaign than we started a new one = Hardly/Scarcely had our team completed that campaign when we started a new one. (Ngay sau khi nhóm tôi hoàn thành chiến dịch đó, chúng tôi đã bắt đầu một chiến dịch mới.)

2. No sooner with As soon as

Similarly to the No sooner structure, the As soon as structure also means “almost immediately/just after”. However, these two structures differ in verb tense usage. In the No sooner structure, it combines the past perfect and past simple tenses. Whereas in the As soon as structure, the verbs in the clauses are in the same tense with each other. For example: 

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  • No sooner had Jenny got up than her clock rang = As soon as Jenny got up, her clock rang. (Ngay khi tôi thức dậy thì điện thoại đổ chuông.)

IV. Distinguishing the No sooner structure from other inverted structures

Inversion is a special grammatical case in English often used in written discourse. Besides the No sooner inversion, there are also many other structures, such as Not only, Not until. Let's explore them below:

1. The Not only structure

The “Not only … but also …” structure means “not only … but also …”. Behind “not only” and “but also” are words/phrases with similar grammatical structures. Therefore, when using this structure, you need to have a solid understanding of parallel structure to avoid grammatical errors.

Not only + auxiliary (helping verb) + S + V + but… also….: Not only … but also …

For example: 

• Not only does Anna play piano perfectly but she also sings well. (Anna không chỉ chơi piano giỏi mà còn hát hay.)

2. The “not until” structure

The “Not until” structure means “only when”, often accompanied by words/phrases/clauses indicating time to emphasize the period of time an event/action occurs mentioned in the following clause.

It was not … until that…: Only when

➡ Not until + … + auxiliary (helping verb) + S + V

For example: 

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  • It was not until last week that Anna knew the truth ➡ Not until last week did Anna know the truth. (Mãi cho tới tuần trước Anna mới biết sự thật.)
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  • It was not until Anna became mature that she knew how her family loved her ➡ Not until did Anna become mature that she knew how her family loved her. (Mãi cho đến khi Anna trưởng thành thì cô ấy mới biết gia đình yêu cô đến nhường nào.)

V. Exercises on the No sooner structure

Exercise 1: Rewrite the sentences using the given words

1.  
   1. John opened the door. He fainted at once. (than)
   2. Anna had hardly left the school when the lesson ended. (than)
   3. No sooner had they approached the market than the policeman stopped them. (As)
   4. No sooner had Jenny arrived at the office than the boss noticed her. (Hardly)
   5. Hardly had the song ended when Peter came. (than)

Answer:

1.  
   1. No sooner did John open the door than he fainted.
   2. No sooner had Anna left the school than the lesson ended.
   3. As soon as they approached the shop, the policeman stopped them.
   4. Hardly had Jenny arrived at the office when the boss noticed her.
   5. No sooner had the song ended than Peter came.

Exercise 2: Choose the correct answer

1. Anna had scarcely ______ the book report when Jenny came in.

1.  
   1. finish
   2. finishing 
   3. finished 
   4. to finished

2. No sooner______will the show start tomorrow.

1.  
   1. will the bell ring than 
   2. the bell will ring than
   3. the bell will ring when 
   4. will the bell ring when

3. No sooner had our class arrived at the bus station ______ the announcement started.

1.  
   1. than
   2. when
   3. then
   4. last

4. No sooner ______ than the match started.

1.  
   1. do Jenny arrive
   2. does Jenny arrive
   3. Jenny arrives
   4. had Jenny arrived

Answer: 

1.C - 2.A - 3.A - 4.D 

VI. Conclusion

Above is a summary of the knowledge about the No sooner structure that Mytour has compiled for you. If you are seeking an IELTS or TOEIC study path, or simply want to do a lot of exercises to improve your skills, you can refer to Mytour's courses below:

• Luyện thi Ielts
• Luyện thi Toeic
• Luyện đề Ielts
• Luyện đề Toeic