～が早いか
no sooner than
～が早いか（～がはやいか）is a literary pattern made by attaching が早いか to the dictionary form of a verb. It presents two actions as so close together that they were practically simultaneous. Literally, it means something like “which was faster?”.
In English it maps to “no sooner had... than...” or “the moment...”. It belongs to written, narrative Japanese and almost always describes events that already happened, so the main clause is in the past tense.
Two actions in virtually the same instant
The clause before が早いか names the first action; the main clause reports a swift, often energetic action that followed without any pause.
彼は財布を見つけるが早いか、駆け出した。
“No sooner had he spotted the wallet than he dashed off.”
- 彼（かれ）= he
- は = topic marker
- 財布（さいふ）= wallet
- を = object marker
- 見つける（みつける）= to spot, to find
- が早いか（がはやいか）= no sooner than
- 駆け出した（かけだした）= dashed off
店のドアが開くが早いか、客たちが中に駆け込んだ。
“No sooner had the shop door opened than the customers rushed inside.”
- 店（みせ）= shop
- の = possessive marker
- ドア = door
- が = subject marker
- 開く（あく）= to open
- が早いか（がはやいか）= no sooner than
- 客たち（きゃくたち）= customers
- 中（なか）= inside
- に = direction marker
- 駆け込んだ（かけこんだ）= rushed in
How to form it
Verb dictionary form + が早いか
- 見つける（みつける）= to find → 見つけるが早いか（みつけるがはやいか）= no sooner had (someone) found
- 開く（あく）= to open → 開くが早いか（あくがはやいか）= no sooner had it opened
- 聞く（きく）= to hear → 聞くが早いか（きくがはやいか）= no sooner had (someone) heard
Key idea
～が早いか paints the second action as launching the very instant the first one occurred, so fast that you could not say which came first. Use it in written narration for swift, decisive movement.
Other N1 grammar
Updated .