I came across " Never have I been so glad to see anyone in my life.".
Is " Never have I been so glad" is the same meaning as "I have been so glad"? How can I use the phrase " Never have I"?
asked Mar 20, 2016 at 17:20
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Related, about 'negative inversion': Under no circumstances will Twitter be liable in any way for any Content– CowperKettleCommented Mar 20, 2016 at 18:16
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This grammar subject is called inversion and quite broad actually. Hope this helps perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion.html– MrtCommented Mar 20, 2016 at 18:30
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1 Answer
The meaning is:
I have never been so glad to see anyone in my life.
We invert the order of the subject (I) and the auxiliary verb (have) to make the sentence more emphatic.
The speaker is very glad to see someone.
Why 'never'? Hmm.. Let's put it thus:
Event X = "I was as glad to see someone in my life as I am glad to see you". How often has event X occured to me? Zero times.
answered Mar 20, 2016 at 17:32
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Thank you for your answer. The person is glad to see someone, isn't it? Commented Mar 20, 2016 at 17:40
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