🧠 TOEFL Grammar Trap: Inversion
One of the more advanced grammar structures tested in TOEFL is inversion after negative or limiting adverbs.
Hardly / Scarcely / Barely … when
When a sentence begins with hardly, scarcely, or barely, the auxiliary verb comes before the subject.
❌ Hardly I had arrived when it started raining.
✅ Hardly had I arrived when it started raining.
🔑 Structure
Hardly + had + subject + past participle (V3) + when + clause
Example:
Hardly had the researchers completed the experiment when they discovered a major error.
⚠️ TOEFL Trap:
Use when with hardly/scarcely/barely.
❌ Hardly had I arrived than…
✅ Hardly had I arrived when…
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