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predicate consists of the operator and the notional part, only analytical forms or compound predicates are used.
There are several variants of the pattern:
1. No sooner... than.
No sooner had Tom seen us than he jumped into a bus.
No sooner could the chairman finish his speech than a great noise started.
2. Scarcely... when, scarcely... before.
Scarcely had he seen us when he jumped into a bus.
The door had scarcely closed behind her before it opened again.
3. Hardly... when.
Hardly could he finish his last sentence when a great noise started.
I
had hardly finished when Holmes returned with the news that the boy was putting in the horse.
4. Negation... when.
He had not closed the door when he heard somebody knock at it.
5. Just... when.
He had just cut a mighty slice of bread when he heard somebody’s footsteps.
The role of the past perfect tense in the first clause is also of importance as it does not manifest in this case
real precedence but peculiar temporal relation, that of a quick succession of events or actions, often
overlapping.
Pseudo-complex sentences
§ 179. We shall consider sentences consisting of two clauses joined according to some pattern of
subordination, but different from other complex sentences in the relation the clauses bear to one another. There
are several types of pseudo-complex sentences. In the first type the splitting of the sentence into clauses is a
device for the sake of emphasizing this or that part of the sentence; actually the meaning of the sentence does
not require splitting (or cleaving) into clauses. These sentences are called emphatic (or cleft) sentences.
Emphatic (or cleft) sentences
§ 180. These sentences in their turn fall into three patterns, in all of which the form of the complex sentence
is used to emphasize some part of the sentence.
In the first pattern the emphasized part is placed in the position of the predicative, which is
followed by a clause. The main clause is patterned on the model of the it-clause and the subordinate clause may
be patterned as an attributive, temporal, local or nominal clause.
It is my friend who told me this.
The role of the main clause is purely emphatic, as the information which is divided between the main and the
subordinate clause can be expressed in a simple sentence.
It is my friend who told me this ——> My friend told me this.
It is the examination that you and I are concerned with ——-> You and I are concerned with the
examination.
If is not that she loved him ——> She did not love him.