Choose the grammatically correct sentences from the options given below:
(A) Hardly had the doctor finished bandaging Arjun’s knee when the boy asked to go back to the playground.
(B) Despite the plumber had fixed the kitchen tap twice, it began to leak again within a week.
(C) You can either pay the school fee online or deposit it at the bank counter.
(D) If the new canteen will open before the exams or not is still not clear.
Choose the correct answer from the options given below:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → (A) and (C) only
(A) Hardly had the doctor finished bandaging Arjun’s knee when the boy asked to go back to the playground. — Correct.
- “Hardly ... when” shows that the second action came almost at once after the first.
- When a sentence begins with “Hardly”, the helping verb comes before the subject: “had the doctor finished”.
(B) Despite the plumber had fixed the kitchen tap twice, it began to leak again within a week. — Incorrect.
- “Despite” is not a joining word. It is followed by a noun or an -ing word, not by a full clause with its own verb.
- A clause like “the plumber had fixed the tap” needs the joining word “although”.
- Correct form: Although the plumber had fixed the kitchen tap twice, it began to leak again within a week.
(C) You can either pay the school fee online or deposit it at the bank counter. — Correct.
- “Either ... or” gives a choice between two things.
(D) If the new canteen will open before the exams or not is still not clear. — Incorrect.
- The first part of this sentence, ending in “or not”, is its subject.
- A subject part like this must begin with “whether”, not “if”.
- Correct form: Whether the new canteen will open before the exams or not is still not clear.