‘  As soon as ‘  and  ‘ No sooner than ‘

These two structures are used to talk about something that happens immediately after something else.  When ‘ No sooner ‘ comes at the beginning of a sentence, we use inverted word order.  That means the auxiliary verb comes before the subject. ( Example : No sooner had I received her call , than I left for her place . We do not say, ” No sooner I had received her call…) The structure ‘ No sooner than ‘ is quite literary.  ‘ No sooner’ clause is rarely used and that too only in writing.  It is always better to use the ‘ As soon as ‘ clause both in speaking and writing.

• No sooner had I eaten the fish, than I started feeling sick. (OR) As soon as I ate the fish, I started feeling sick.( i.e   I started feeling sick immediately after I ate the fish)
• No sooner had they completed the work, than they demanded the wages. (OR) As soon as they completed the work, they demanded wages.  ( i.e They demanded wages soon after they completed the work.
• As soon as we started our programme, it began to rain. (OR)  No sooner had we started our programme, than it began to rain.
• As soon as the teacher came in, all the students stood up. (OR) No sooner had the teacher come in, than all the students stood up.
• As soon as the bus came, we all rushed to it. (OR)  No sooner had the bus come, than we all rushed to it.
• No sooner had we got the message, than we went out. (OR) As soon as we got the message, we went out.

At, On, In : Grammatical explanations will be unnecessary in this case.  The examples given will clarify the usage.

AT :

• He arrived at 10 o’ clock.
• I will meet you at Bolgatty Palace.
• At present I have no idea to marry her.
• He is very busy at the moment.  I am afraid you can’t meet him now.
• At midnight, at sunset, at lunchtime etc

Note :  We don’t usually say, ‘ At what time…?

• What time are you going out this evening?

ON :

• She arrived on Friday.
• He will fly to New York on 25th December.
• On Christmas day
• On my birthday

IN :

• In the morning/ afternoon/ evening
• In December, in 1999 etc

Note:  We do not use  AT/ON/IN before Last/ Next/ This/ Every.

• I will see you next Friday.
• They got married last February.
• I am meeting him this evening.
• We met him last month at Hotel Indraprastha.

Present Perfect and Past Simple (compared)

Present Perfect :  We use present perfect for a period of time that continues from the past until now. For example, today, this week, since 1990 etc.  The Present Perfect always has a connection with ‘Now ‘.

• The manager has lost his keys.  He can’t open the office.  (Here, we are not thinking of the past action.  We are thinking of the present result of the action.  He doesn’t have his keys with him now.)
• I ‘ve not seen him today.
• It hasn’t rained this week.
• Have you seen him this morning? (It is still morning)

Past Simple :  We use Past Simple for a finished time in the past.  For example, yesterday, last week, from 1980 to 1990 etc.  The Past Simple tells us only about the past.  Do not use present perfect ( I have done) when you talk about a finished time ( for example, yesterday/ten minutes ago/ in 1985/ when I was a child etc)

• The manager lost his keys yesterday.  He could not open the office.  (Here, we are thinking of the action in the past.  We don’t know from this sentence whether the manager has  the keys with him now.)
• The weather was nice yesterday.
• He left ten minutes ago.
• She ate a lot of sweets when she was a child.
• Did he see her this morning? ( It is now afternoon or evening)

Present Simple (I do) with a future meaning.

We can use the Present Simple when we talk about timetables, programmes, etc.  (For example, for public transport, cinemas etc)

• The train leaves Mumbai at 9.30 a.m and arrives at Bilaspur within 16 hours.
• What time does the film begin?
• The film begins at 6.00 p.m.
• We have a bus now going to Thiruvanathapuram.  It leaves at 9 a.m.

Can/ Could/Would……….you?

(1)  Requests :

• Can (or could) you wait for a moment, please?
• Excuse me, could you tell me how to get to the railway station?
• Could ( or would) you lend me some money until next week?

(2)  Asking for things:

• Can I have these postcards, please?
• Yes of course, you can have them.
• Could I have the salt, please?

(3)  Asking for and giving permission:

• Could I use your phone?  Yes of course.
• May I come in?  Yes, please do.
• You can use my phone. (OR)  You may use my phone.( Note:-  ‘May’ is formal and less usual than ‘ can ‘ or ‘ could ‘)

(4)  Offering to do things:

• Can I get you a cup of coffee?
• Can I help you?
• No, thank you.  I can manage.
• ( You can also use  I will …..to offer to do things.)  You look tired.  I will get you a cup of coffee.

SOMEONE would have liked or preferred.

(1)  If you say that SOMEONE would have liked  or preferred something, you mean that they wanted to do it or have it but they did not, often because it was not possible.

• I would have liked a year more in the pleasant climate there in Europe. ( i.e I really liked to have a longer stay there , but it was not possible)
• I would have preferred to stay at home. ( i.e that was my desire but it was not possible or I could not stay due to some circumstantial influences)

(2)  When you say what SOMEONE would have expected or hoped to happen or be true, you are referring to what they, in fact, expected or hoped to happen or what it was reasonable to expect, especially when it did not happen or was not true.

• There were more participants than one would have expected.  (i.e one expected only less)
• The examination was more difficult than the students would have expected.( i.e students expected the examination to be less difficult)
• He found less time than he would have hoped to follow up his private hobbies.
• I wouldn’t have thought it possible.( i.e against what I thought it was possible)

(3) You use would have –ed when you are mentioning something that you are assuming or guessing happened or was true.

• She wouldn’t have seen me.  She was too far away.
• They would have contacted the authorities in time.(i.e it is the assumption that they contacted authorities in time)

Hearing / Seeing etc is used with the meaning as  ‘As somebody heard / saw ‘ OR  ‘When somebody heard / saw ‘.  We can combine two sentences using this structure. It is to be specially noted that the subjects of both the sentences to be combined will be the same in this structure.

• He felt the gas leaking.  At once he turned off the cylinder valve.
• Feeling the gas leaking, he turned off the cylinder valve.(combined)
• The thief saw the police jeep coming.  Suddenly he hid behind a tree.
• Seeing the police jeep coming, the thief hid behind a tree. (combined)
• The child saw a snake.  Immediately it began to cry.
• Seeing a snake, the child began to cry.(combined)
• The boys heard the school bell.  At once they ran to their classrooms.
• Hearing the school bell, the boys ran to their classrooms.

Hardly / Scarcely  :  This usage shows how quickly two actions take place.  The second action takes place immediately on or after the first action takes place.  We can combine two sentences using  ‘Hardly ‘ or ‘ Scarcely’ .  Normally ‘ Hardly’ or  ‘ Scarcely’ is used at the beginning of the sentence.  When the two sentences are in the simple past, the first sentence is converted into past perfect and the tense of the second sentence is left unchanged on combining the sentences.  Words such as ‘ suddenly’ , immediately, soon, then etc which may come at the beginning of the second sentence should be omitted and ‘WHEN’ should be used in such places when combined.  ‘Hardly ‘ and ‘Scarcely’ are negative expressions and therefore when a sentence begins with a negative word, inversion of the subject and auxiliary is a must. This usage is a little bit of a difficult expression and as such this may be avoided in spoken as well as written English.  Instead , you can use ‘ As soon as ‘ expression conveniently to replace it.( Example:  As soon as the police resorted to lathicharge, the people scattered here and there. All the following sentences can be combined using ‘ As soon as ‘ Expression conveniently.

• The police resorted to lathicharge .  At once the people scattered here and there.
• Hardly ( or scarcely) had the police resorted to lathicharge when the people scattered here and there. (combined)
• The students were waiting for the school bus and at last it came.  Then they rushed to it immediately.
• Scarcely ( or hardly) had the school bus come when the students rushed to it. (combined)
• The thief saw the police officer.  Suddenly he ran off.
• Hardly (or scarcely) had the thief seen the police officer when he ran off. (combined)
• We reached home.  It began to rain immediately.
• Hardly (or scarcely) had we reached home when it began to rain.(combined)
• I saw him.  At once I stopped the car.
• Hardly (or scarcely) had I seen him when I stopped the car.

Having + Past participle.

We can combine two sentences using this structure.  When the subjects of the two sentences are the same,  ‘Having ‘ comes at the beginning of the sentence when combined and when they are different, the subject of the first sentence comes at the beginning immediately followed by ‘Having’.  If the first sentence is in the Passive ,  ‘Having been + past participle’ is used instead of the normal ‘Having + Past participle’.

Examples – when the subjects of the two sentences are the same.

• He finished the work.  Then he went to sleep.
• Having finished the work, he went to sleep. (i.e After finishing the work , he went to sleep. OR. As he finished the work, he went to sleep)
• He resigned his government job.  Then he joined a private firm.
• Having resigned his government job, he joined a private firm.(combined)
• He was dismissed from service.  So he started his own business.
• Having been dismissed from service, he started his own business.( Passive – combined)
• He was hospitalised.  So he applied for leave.
• Having been hospitalised, he applied for leave.( Passive – combined)

Examples – when the subjects of the two sentences are different.

• All the customers went out.  Then the shopkeeper closed the shop.
• All the customers having gone out, the shopkeeper closed the shop.(combined)
• She finished her homework.  Then her mother took her for a magic show.
• She having finished her homework, her mother took her for a magic show.(combined)
• The rain started.  Then the girls stopped playing.
• The rain having started, the girls stopped playing.(combined)
• His father was dismissed from service.  Then he had to seek a job urgently.
• His father having been dismissed from service,  he had to seek a job urgently.(Passive – combined)
• Her husband was hospitalised.  As a result, she had to attend to his business.
• Her husband having been hospitalised, she had to attend to his business. (Passive – combined)

The three continuous tenses – Compared. Here is a short comparison of the three Continuous Tenses.

• At 9 o’ clock yesterday, Soja was in her office.  She was working. (past continuous)
• It is 9 o’ clock now.  Soja is in her office.  She is working (present continuous)
• At 9 o’ clock tomorrow, she will be in her office.  She will be working. (future continuous)