Which of the following sentences is correctly formed?

The correct answer is Option (4) → Little did the old tailor imagine that his small shop would one day have three branches.

“Little did” at the start:

• When a sentence starts with “Little” in the sense of “not at all”, the helping verb “did” comes before the subject.
• After “did”, the verb takes its plain form: Little did the old tailor imagine.

Why the Other Options are Incorrect?

Option 1: Little the old tailor imagined that his small shop would one day have three branches. — Incorrect. The option says “Little the old tailor imagined”. With “Little” at the start, “did” must come before the subject.

Option 2: Little did the old tailor imagined that his small shop would one day have three branches. — Incorrect. The option says “did the old tailor imagined”. After “did”, the verb takes its plain form “imagine”, not the past form.

Option 3: Little did imagine the old tailor that his small shop would one day have three branches. — Incorrect. The option says “Little did imagine the old tailor”. Only the helping verb “did” comes before the subject. The main verb “imagine” stays after the subject.