No sooner had the United States confirmed North Korea's Oct. 9 nuclear test, when news reports began appearing that Pyongyang was preparing to conduct a second one.
I'm a foreigner.
I got a question.
In this sentence, Why "when"was used instead of "than.
(No sooner ~than)
2006-12-17 11:53:21 · 7 answers · asked by IamPa 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Than would be the correct structure. Unfortunately there seems to be no minimum standard of literacy requirement for journalists.
2006-12-17 12:04:13 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lots of problems with that sentence...try this..
Once the United States government confirmed North Korea's nuclear test, the news media began reporting that Pyongyang was preparing to conduct another test.
2006-12-17 20:14:28 · answer #2 · answered by nachosmyman 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You say "no sooner than" to compare something, like "Jan will arrive no sooner than Tom". In this sentence, no sooner implies that the news reports appeared almost immediately after it had happened.
2006-12-17 20:03:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
-According to Wren & Martin:- No sooner had the U.S. confirmed North Korea's Oct.9 nuclear test,THAN news reports--------second one
2006-12-17 20:05:24 · answer #4 · answered by ssrvj 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would drop when and leave the sentence without when or than. It flows better!!
2006-12-17 20:02:39 · answer #5 · answered by dell 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
than is the correct word to use, but using when is a common mistake to make.
2006-12-17 21:27:36 · answer #6 · answered by u_wish1984 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I would have used "than" also. I guess whoever wrote this sentence didn't proofread it very carefully.
2006-12-17 20:01:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋