1

As far as I know, we can use either inversion or normal sentence order with "as" when we are talking about things or people in the "as clause" that are different from those we are mentioning in the independent clause, for example:

"John and Mary brought their kids to the party, as did we all / as we all did."

"I've often wished I could afford to work less, as do most people / as most people do, I suspect."

But we cannot use normal sentence order when--in spite of talking about different things or people in each clause--the clause with "as" is uttered by a second person. So we have to use inversion, right? For example:

Jill: Did you see that John and Mary brought their kids to the party?

Jack: As did we all. What's the point?

Is this rule correct?

By the way, is "as" acting as an adverb of comparison in the above examples?

Improve this question
3
  • relevant: Inversion after “than”/“as”
    – herisson
    Commented Oct 15, 2015 at 23:13
  • 1
    In conversation, I would say, "As we all did". For me it would sound slightly pompous to say, "As did we all." So I disagree with your premise.
    – chasly - supports Monica
    Commented Oct 15, 2015 at 23:50
  • If I was Jack in your example, I wouldn't use "as" at all. It doesn't help answer Jill's question. If she'd made a statement - "I saw John and Mary," then "As did we all" would be a reaonable reply.
    – JHCL
    Commented Oct 23, 2015 at 6:01

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

In formal written language we commonly use inversion after as and than in comparisons:

Paper was invented in China, as was the process of printing.

Note that we don't invert subject and verb after as or than when the subject is a pronoun:

We now know a lot more about the universe than we did ten years ago. (not... than did we ten years ago.)

From Advanced Grammar in Use by Martin Hewings (Unit 99)

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .