Inversion&Emphasis

Question

''As soon as the merger was announced, the company's share prices started to fall.''

If I want to rewrite the sentence above starting with no sooner, should I change the tense?

No sooner was the merger announced, the company's share prices started to fall. , or

No sooner had the merger been announced, the company's share prices started to fall. ?

Thank you in advance.

Avangi · Accepted Answer

ChloeeNo sooner was the merger announced, the company's share prices started to fall. , or
No sooner had the merger been announced, the company's share prices started to fall. ?I don't see any difference in meaning between the two versions.

As an aside, I believe you need to add a "than" to both sentences - unless the British version is different.

No sooner had her head hit the pillow than she was fast asleep.
No sooner was her head on the pillow than she was fast asleep.

Re the difference between simple past and past perfect tense, they both describe a past event.
The past perfect is always okay here because the second clause is always the past tense reference.

The expression also works in present tense habitual behavior.
No sooner do I wake up than the dog needs/wants to go outdoors.
Chloeeshould I change the tense?
There's no specific reason to change from simple past to past perfect.

Edit. Well, I do find quite a few examples on the net in which the "than" is omitted. They appear to be British,
but I can't say they all are.

The expression is actually a comparison between the times of two events, in which the speaker implies that they occurred simultaneous. A is/was no sooner than B.

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