Choose the sentences in which the conjunction is used correctly:
(A) Not until the final results were put up on the notice board did Rahul tell his parents about the scholarship.
(B) Either the principal nor the vice-principal was present when the prize for the science quiz was announced.
(C) On such a humid afternoon, Rekha would sooner walk to the station than wait half an hour for a shared auto.
(D) No sooner did the last bus reach the depot then the conductor began counting the day’s collection.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → (A) and (C) only
(A) Not until the final results were put up on the notice board did Rahul tell his parents about the scholarship. — Correct.
- “Not until” at the start means “only after”.
- When a sentence begins with “Not until”, the helping verb comes before the subject in the main part: “did Rahul tell”.
(B) Either the principal nor the vice-principal was present when the prize for the science quiz was announced. — Incorrect.
- “Either” goes with “or”. “Nor” goes only with “neither”.
- Here the meaning is that both were absent, so the pair needed is “neither ... nor”.
- Correct form: Neither the principal nor the vice-principal was present when the prize for the science quiz was announced.
(C) On such a humid afternoon, Rekha would sooner walk to the station than wait half an hour for a shared auto. — Correct.
- “Would sooner ... than” shows which of two things a person prefers.
- “Than” joins the thing preferred to the thing not preferred.
(D) No sooner did the last bus reach the depot then the conductor began counting the day’s collection. — Incorrect.
- “No sooner” always goes with “than”.
- “Then” is a different word. It means “after that” and cannot complete this pair.
- Correct form: No sooner did the last bus reach the depot than the conductor began counting the day’s collection.