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  1. As soon as they had arrived they were arguing.
  2. They had no sooner arrived than they were arguing.
  3. No sooner had they arrived than they were arguing.

Can all three sentences be used interchangeably? I believe the last one is especially used for emphasis, but I am not really sure about the first one though.

KillingTime
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Rob
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  • Two and three are basically the same sentence. "No sooner" indicates that there is no break between the actions. -- The first may be a little awkward in its verb form - there is no context. To get the same meaning, you would have to say "As soon as they had arrived they started arguing. – Greybeard Oct 07 '21 at 15:42
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    There's no need for had in the first one; it's part of the idiom in the last two, but has no other function. Note, once again, the close synonymy of equative and comparative constructions. – John Lawler Oct 07 '21 at 18:15
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    #2 sounds weird to me, I think #3 is the more common way to phrase that. – Barmar Oct 07 '21 at 23:38
  • I would use as soon as for routine things - "As soon as I arrived I went to my room and unpacked", and no sooner for surprising or unpleasant things - "No sooner had I arrived than I was called to the telephone." – Kate Bunting Oct 08 '21 at 08:14

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