1. Key Concept of “Hardly… When…”

The phrase “hardly… when…” is typically used to express that one event occurs immediately after another, often with the first event hardly being finished when the second one begins. It emphasizes how close in time the two actions are.

Structure:

• “Hardly” (often at the beginning) + past perfect verb + “when” + simple past verb

Example:

• “Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang.”
  • Meaning: I had just sat down, and immediately the phone rang.

2. Detailed Breakdown

A. Hardly (Adverb)

• “Hardly” in this structure means “barely” or “almost not,” indicating that the first action was barely completed before the second action happened.
• It is often used with inverted sentences (where the verb comes before the subject), especially in formal writing.

B. When (Conjunction)

• “When” introduces the second action that happened immediately after the first.

Inversion Example:

• “Hardly had she closed the door when the cat slipped out.”
  • Here, “Hardly had she closed” is the inverted structure, putting emphasis on how quickly the second event (the cat slipping out) followed the first.

3. Examples for Practice

Example Sentences:

• “Hardly had the show started when the power went out.”
• “Hardly had we arrived at the beach when it began to rain.”
• “Hardly had he fallen asleep when the alarm went off.”

These sentences show that the second event occurs just after the first, often with some element of inconvenience or surprise.

4. Practice Exercise

Try filling in the blanks with the correct form of “hardly… when…”:

1. _________ (I/finish) my homework _________ (my friend/arrive) to hang out.
2. _________ (she/close) the book _________ (someone/call) her on the phone.
3. _________ (they/start) eating _________ (the fire alarm/go off).

Answers:

1. Hardly had I finished my homework when my friend arrived to hang out.
2. Hardly had she closed the book when someone called her on the phone.
3. Hardly had they started eating when the fire alarm went off.