Select the correct option: No sooner ___ the findings published than critics began questioning their legitimacy.

Correct — B. The trigger is No sooner … than. A sentence that opens with No sooner inverts: the auxiliary comes before the subject, as in a question.

The key fills that slot with the past perfect had, which puts the publishing before the reaction in began.

Written out in full, the key's sentence needs one more word: No sooner had the findings been published than critics began questioning their legitimacy → option (b).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  was — Was is singular, and the subject, the findings, is plural. No sooner was the findings published breaks subject-verb agreement.
• (c)
  were — Were is not the auxiliary the key takes. SSC's key marks the past perfect had of No sooner had … than, the pattern this card teaches.
• (d)
  have — Have is present perfect, but the main clause is in the past: critics began. A past event after No sooner needs a past-tense auxiliary, not have.

No sooner … than says one event followed another at once. When No sooner opens the sentence, the clause inverts: auxiliary, then subject, then the rest.

The form this key rewards is the past perfect: No sooner had + subject + past participle, then than + simple past.

The partner word is than, not when or then.

Key facts

• No sooner pairs with than, not when or then.
• A sentence opening with No sooner inverts: No sooner had we arrived than it rained.
• Hardly and scarcely pair with when: Scarcely had we arrived when it rained.
• A passive in the past perfect needs been: had the findings been published.

Common traps

• Writing when or then after No sooner in place of than
• Dropping been from a passive: had the findings published makes the findings the publisher

No directly related past PYQ was found.