Directions: Choose the part in which there is an error:

The error is incorrect word order after 'hardly.' When sentences begin with negative or restrictive adverbs like 'hardly,' 'scarcely,' 'barely,' the subject and auxiliary verb must be inverted. Instead of 'Hardly he had stepped,' it should be 'Hardly had he stepped.' This is a formal construction used for emphasis, similar to how 'Never have I seen' is correct instead of 'Never I have seen.'