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How to use 'Hardly had...when' - Grammar

Hardly had...when is a construction used to express that one event happened immediately after another, with the first event having barely begun or been completed.

Here's how to use it with explanations:

1. Hardly had I left the house when it started raining.
This sentence means that I had barely left the house, and immediately after that, it started raining. The emphasis is on the quick succession of events.

2. Hardly had the movie begun when the power went out.
In this case, the movie had barely started (or had just started) when the power outage occurred. It shows how quickly one event followed the other.

3. Hardly had she opened the book when she realized it was upside down.
This sentence conveys that she had barely started to read the book when she noticed it was upside down. It emphasizes the quick realization after starting an action.

4. Hardly had the meeting started when he received an urgent phone call.
Here, the meeting had barely begun when he got the urgent phone call. It highlights the sudden interruption after the meeting commenced.

5. Hardly had they reached the top of the mountain when the storm hit.
This sentence indicates that they had just reached the top of the mountain when the storm suddenly arrived. It underscores the immediate transition from one situation to another.

In each example, hardly had...when is used to stress the swift occurrence of the second event right after the first one, which had barely started or had just happened.

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