Questions tagged [subject-verb-inversion]
Questions about reversing the order of a clause’s subject and verb, including subject–auxiliary inversion in questions and normal subject–verb swap in locative, directive, copular, and quotative inversions.
305
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Is "don't" a particle of its own?
I noticed an oddity in the sentence Why don't you just do it?: Although I always thought of don't simply as of a short form of do not it seems to me as if this is not the case in this sentence. ...
2
votes
2
answers
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What Is 'Given' Information according to the 'Given-before-New' Principle?
In Steven Pinker's book The Sense of Style, he talks about the 'given-before-new' principle (most notably on pages 131–138). He states, '... people learn by integrating new information into their ...
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0
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Nor + inversion or no inversion?
My teacher showed me these examples at the lesson about conjunctions:
a) She does not eat meat, nor does she drink milk.
b) My grandfather could neither read nor write, but he was a very wise person.
...
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0
votes
2
answers
70
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Comma and inversion
I just wrote an English exam and I'm not sure if these two sentences which I've written are correct. If they're not, please tell me and if they are please back that up with a credible source.
Not ...
2
votes
0
answers
42
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How do multiple modal constructions work with ellipsis or inversion?
I have been researching on multiple modal constructions, which is a dialect mainly used in
The Southern United States. Unlike Standard English, this dialect allows more than one modal auxiliary per ...
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3
votes
3
answers
324
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Why is the structure interrogative-which-word – subject – verb (including question mark) being used so often? Is it grammatical?
I've noticed that more and more headlines of articles and ads (excluding those in more traditional online media) are of the structure interrogative-subject-verb instead of interrogative-verb-subject.
...
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2
votes
2
answers
51
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Inversion — a really odd example
In the book Story Genius by Lisa Cron we read:
Even if she's only six, she already has a worldview that, like most of us, she's never even questioned—why should she? As far as she can see it's "...
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0
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Which of these possible multi-choice answers is correct and why? [duplicate]
A Chinese teacher of English asked me about the following, taken from an English test for Chinese people. It's quite tricky I think.
I would like to know three things:
Which answer or answers do you ...
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0
answers
71
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Negatives and Interrogatives with and without subject-verb inversion: "Didn't you have a lecture today?" vs "You didn't have a lecture today?"
"Didn't you have a lecture today?" vs "You didn't have a lecture today?"
Regarding the aforementioned clauses, from "experience", I can surmise different, subtle nuances. ...
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1
answer
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Have a question about a particular use of inversion in English [duplicate]
It is found that the complainant, deterred by fear of the pollution which he would have suffered had he passed near the Pariahs, did not conduct the procession.
In the above sentence, why is the ...
0
votes
1
answer
36
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Regarding a sentence involving coordination and subject-auxiliary inversion
When I am reading a paper, I come across a long sentence:
Only when this pain remains with you, is with you eternally, can you enjoy eternally the pace and dance of humanity, can praise the shouts ...
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0
answers
11
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Quotative inversion without a direct quote [duplicate]
It is commonly claimed that, when the object of a verb is a verbatim quotation, it may precede the verb. However, I have found numerous examples such that the verb may precede the subject even if ...
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0
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40
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When is this type of inversion usually used? [duplicate]
What is this inversion rule? I heard
"After bad weather comes fine weather", it was obvious for me that the word "comes" here was related to "fine weather". Yes, I learnt ...
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0
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1
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41
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"implies the narrator"?
A sentence on this website reads:
It might well be, implies the narrator, that he made up the whole story, but he's content to leave it up to the reader to decide which "passages" of his ...
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2
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52
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Word order in embedded clause: "had little conception of... how supine was the Security Council"
I find the word order of this sentence interesting:
You will all know the outlines of this disaster, but I suggest that many people, including me before I went down this road, had really little ...
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0
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What grammar is this: Only once you ... are you interested in [duplicate]
I came through a comment here
... Only once you know this are you interested in considering workarounds
I believe I can rephrase it to
"Once you know this, you are interested in considering ...
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2
votes
2
answers
82
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Why is there subject auxiliary inversion in the embedded clause in "I wonder could we untie him"?
I was reading the book The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and there is a sentence from it I found quite strange:
"I wonder could we untie him as well?" said ...
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1
answer
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Arise vs arises with singular subject and plural object
I've found a few similar questions here, but I'm still not sure in this specific case if there should be a preference for using the word arise or arises:
Originally proposed before BCS theory as a ...
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1
answer
119
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Have you a name?
In The Dig, a video game, character Maggie asks a question this way (full script here):
MAGGIE: Have you a name?
CREATOR: I had a name, when I was alive. Now that I am again and again dead, what need ...
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1
vote
1
answer
94
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Exclamation as a negative adverbal phrase for an inverted sentence?
I am wondering if it is possible to construct an emotional sentence with an exclamation followed by an inversion:
Holy cow is this fish small! [added:] How did it not sink your boat?
with the ...
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1
vote
1
answer
71
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Do any exclamative sentences admit Subject-Auxiliary Inversion?
I just read in a comic book How great is it that your partner knows so many good restaurants! Is this substandard English? Or are there some types of clauses (e.g. It-clefts) that have exclamative ...
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1
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257
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can we use inversion after "then"
In the following sentence, the inversion structure has been used because of "then" or does it have another reason?
The first moving pictures were simple "shadow shows" or " ...
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0
answers
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Would be possible were [duplicate]
The wheelbarrow is designed to distribute the weight of its load between the wheel and the operator, so enabling the convenient carriage of heavier and bulkier loads than would be possible were the ...
1
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0
answers
45
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When can an embedded interrogative clause exhibit Subject-Auxiliary Inversion? [duplicate]
I found in a comic book an interesting example of an embedded interrogative that had Subject-Auxiliary Inversion (SAI): I'm not too sure what exactly is it that you're asking. Is this Standard English ...
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5
answers
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Why isn't "witness" the third-person singular form in the example sentence?
The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary gives, for the word witness, an example sentence as follows:
(Original Version)
Authentic Italian cooking is very healthy —— witness the low incidence
of ...
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1
answer
366
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Why can you say “not only will I” but not “not only I will”?
Given:
Not only will I be skipping the breakfast, but the lunch too.
Not only ❌I will be skipping the breakfast, but the lunch too.
Why does sentence (2) sound so terribly wrong? Why is sentence (1) ...
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1
vote
1
answer
149
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Hitchhiker's Guide opening sentence analysis according to Verspoor and Sauter [duplicate]
Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of
the western spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded
yellow sun.
(Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams)
Does anyone ...
0
votes
2
answers
321
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Subjunctive "be" inversion [closed]
Can i invert the protasis bellow :
If you not be, ...
Into :
Be you not, ...
Will it not —in an archaic sense— be mistaken for imperative and will it convey the same conditional notion?
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1
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57
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not only... but also (but also - together)
I know that parallelism is a maxim when it comes to talking about this matter, my question is:
Not only do I like chocolate, but I also like coffee. (this is correct)
Not only do I like chocolate, but ...
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0
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36
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'Did/does' at head of subordinate phrase
He does have a sense of humour does Mr Marr.
Nigel Williams, 1992
Is this double use of do just doubly emphatic?
Secondly, why can't do be used similarly, for example with a plural proper noun?
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0
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"neither" as adverb leading sentence [duplicate]
Is it an accepted form to begin a sentence with the word "neither" used as an adverb?
Many grammar sources discuss sentences beginning with "neither", but only in the context of ...
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0
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How we can omit the subjects in "not only but also" structure?
When we can omit the subject (or sometimes the verb) in the second part of "not only... but also" structure?
I have seen some examples:
Not only is he handsome but also intelligent
Not only ...
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0
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57
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Does 'Only' always trigger inversion? [duplicate]
Is every sentence that "Only" comes first inverted?
For example, which one is correct?
"Only after every person on Earth forgets me am I dead."
or "Only after every person on ...
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3
answers
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”There are many who” vs ”Many are those who”
Is it grammatically correct to say:
Many are those who enjoy camping
and is it any different in meaning than
There are many (people) who enjoy camping
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1
answer
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Can 'nowhere' be used as a subject?
I am utterly confused... The thing is I was helping a friend do an exercise in which she needed to put some words in the correct order to form a grammatical English sentence. The words in question ...
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1
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"What went we out into this wilderness to find?" This sentence is grammatically correct. How?
"What went we out into this wilderness to find?"
This is the first dialogue of the movie 'The VVitch'. I can't understand how this sentence is correct. I asked my teacher, she told me that ...
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0
answers
28
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Is the expression "Come what may" an exclamative? [duplicate]
A bit of a split-hair question, but should the word "come" in "come what may" be understood as an imperative, and therefore "come what may" is an exclamative (as in "...
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0
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How to understand the grammar of "strength were granted me"?
I find the following sentence from a translation of Proust's In search of lost time:
But at least, if strength were granted me for long enough to accomplish my
work, ...
I want to understand it ...
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1
answer
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Participle phrases and Inversion
In enwiki.org, this example is provided for showing inversion after a Participle phrases:
Lurking in the corner stood a chicken with an ax, ready to take on the
farmer in a fight to the death.
In ...
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1
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"How could I" and "how I could"? [closed]
Which one is correct?
I don't know how could I help you.
or
I don't know how I could help you.
Equivalently,
I don't know how could you do this to me.
or
I don't know how you could do this to ...
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0
votes
3
answers
96
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"behind the open door are hidden several differences". Is this grammatically correct? (Inversion+adverbial phrase of location+be verb) [duplicate]
Behind the open door are hidden several differences.
This seems to be an inversion of the sentence
Several differences are hidden behind the open door.
Both sound intuitively correct, but the ...
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4
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Does the sentence 'Boy, are my arms tired' mean 'Boy, my arms are tired.'? [closed]
I found a meme that says 'I flew in from (wherever) and boy are my arms tired!'. I can understand what's funny about this meme but I can't understand why 'are my arms tired!' is used instead of 'my ...
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1
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Question inversion in English like in German?
In German, one has to invert questions in a sub-sentence. Not doing so feels wrong in English to me, is it allowed in English too or is that strictly illegal grammar?
Example
"Now the question is ...
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2
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90
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Answer should be 'her' or 'their'? [duplicate]
Neither Nancy nor Loma remembered to bring _______ camera ]
Her
Their
Them
Neither
In this questions option C "their" was given correct answer but I need an explanation to it as I read the ...
2
votes
2
answers
487
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Inversion in relative clause
The gardens stretched back to some reasonable-looking pasture land on which grazed a few cattle and sheep.
Why is this inversion valid here? I would expect maybe "on which there grazed" (as ...
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0
answers
36
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Subject-verb inversion when subject isn't clear
I just felt like writing the following sentence:
n^k distinct configurations has a 2dfa(k).
It's natural formulation would be "a 2dfa(k) has n^k distinct configurations", but its after 2AM,...
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1
answer
425
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Inversion of passive voice (i think so)
Could someone please tell me how to complete the second sentence so that it has a same meaning to the first one using the given word? You must use between three and six words including the word given.
...
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0
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24
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dare I say (it) [duplicate]
used when you are saying something that you think other people may not
like
This famous novel is a little, dare I say it, dull. https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british/dare-i-say-it
Is ...
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0
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24
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'Why has it been removed' or 'why it has been removed'? [duplicate]
Would you mind telling me which sentence is correct:
'Why has it been removed?'
From the grammar standpoint, it looks equally to 'Why do you think so?', right?
'Why it has been removed?'
Thank you....
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0
answers
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Inversion in English: "In no realm of life has..." [duplicate]
I'm a regular on your site and learning English. I read the newspaper on a regular basis.
Today I have come across this underlined sentence in the newspaper, it sounds bit odd to me.
"IN NO ...
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