Questions tagged [inversion]
Inversion is the placing of words or whole phrases in the reverse of their usual order in a sentence. It can serve a grammatical or a rhetorical purpose.
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Meaning of 'have it they did'
When they had the ultimate audacity and have it they did then you needn't wonder that everything was turned upside down.
In this sentence, what is the meaning of 'have it they did'? Please tell me I ...
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1answer
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Inversion in the adverbial clause
Two questions about this sentence
Only now could he see what a terrible decision he had made.
The inversion should happen in the main clause and not in the adverbial clause, isn't it?
The ...
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1answer
33 views
“Not only can I not help you, but also (never/ under no circumstances) can our parents help you.”
Is my sentence grammatically correct?
Not only can I not help you, but also (never/ under no circumstances) can our parents help you.
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0answers
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“what had she said ” vs “what she had said” Which one is correct?
I had been deemed "what she had said" is correct sentence. However lately I played some English visual novel games, there was a sentence with strange grammar: "what had she said".
Which one is ...
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1answer
33 views
auxiliary in inversion without a negation
I thought we must use auxiliary verbs in sentences with inversion only when we have an explicit (not, never) or implicit (only if, hardly, little) negation. But I have come across the next sentence:
...
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“No sooner had … than” and “No sooner did … than”
Are both of the following sentences grammatically correct?
No sooner had the committee made the announcement than everyone started complaining
No sooner did the committee made the announcement ...
2
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1answer
184 views
Is the usage “it is not until now……” grammatically correct?
I have heard a lot of sentences including the phrase "until now" at the begining of sentences.
But when I search its inversion format in Google, I hardly find any related sentences which begin with
...
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0answers
147 views
What do they vs What they
I wonder ____________. ---Pandas.
A. what do they call these animals.
B. what they call these animals.
C. what they do call these animals.
I guess if it is a personal conversation, it would be "...
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2answers
1k views
Usage of “How can we” and “How we can” in the following case
Correct
This is how we can improve XXX.
Correct
How can we improve XXX?
May I know, which is the correct form?
Would you mind telling us how we can improve XXX?
Would you mind telling us how can ...
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1answer
41 views
How to use So Inversion
I came across "so" inversion without "that" do you ratify this clause and supply more examples ?
The attitudes towards the use of insect in animal feed and resulting livestock products are generally ...
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1answer
52 views
Can “not only … but also” be constructed as “not only … as also”?
In other languages, the construction "not only ... but also" can be constructed in a different form: "not only ... as also".
Is this also possible in English? For example, is this sentence correct?:
...
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1answer
41 views
Can we make a question with inversion sentence?
In an essay, can I write the next question about free time? Is is grammatically correct?
Seldom have I watched films on TV?
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Does inversion occur after comma?
Which of the following is correct?
Only after he came home did I go to bed.
Only after he came home, I went to bed.
Is the second clause correct?
Or is inversion compulsory in that case ...
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1answer
17 views
Is this inversion structure correct?
Given is the chart concerning the percentage of graduates working in
different sectors of the economy in the UK in 2004.
I would like to ask whether this sentence is grammatically correct. The part ...
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0answers
22 views
Is this an inversion sentence?
Is this an inversion sentence?
And a farce and a spectacle it will be, fulfilling the social
aspirations of Trump and all his grim entourage: to be feted with the
high ritual and honorifics ...
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2answers
21 views
Does inversion change the meaning of the sentence: “As she did…, she could”
She could not go to the party as she did not have an invitation.
As she did not have an invitation, she could not go to the party.
What is the difference between them?
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1answer
44 views
What type of inversion is in the following sentences? : Thee will I honor, praise and give glory [closed]
e.g:
Thee will I love, my Strength, my Tower
thee shall I love in endless day
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1answer
24 views
Two examples about the usage of inversion which make me confused
In the temple of science are many mansions, and various indeed are they that dwell therein and the motives that have led them thither.
This is a sentence from a speech of Albert Einstein. When I ...
0
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1answer
59 views
Inversion in a sentence with the continuous tense
The original sentence is
The two men were talking in front of the station.
Which one of the following sentences is correct, if I place the adverbial phrase at the beginning?
In front of the ...
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0answers
19 views
Inversion in second conditional
If Sandy were giving a speech tomorrow, she would be very nervous.
Were Sandy giving a speech tomorrow, she would be very nervous.
Is this inversion correct?
Thank you so much in advance!
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1answer
67 views
Subject-dependent inversion
In front of him opens a magnificent view on mountains.
Is such a subject-dependent inversion possible? Or should I use
there opens a magnificent view on mountains in front of him?
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2answers
49 views
Can I say; So happy does he look? - is it grammatical?
I wonder which of the following sentences is grammatically right?
So happy he looks.
So happy does he look.
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1answer
32 views
In the distance + inversion sentence？
In the distance could be seen the purple mountains.
In the distance the purple mountains could be seen.
I know sentence 1 is right, but can you tell me whether sentence 2 is right.
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2answers
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Comma before “that” if a sentence begins with an emphatic construction
A coursebook gives a reference to “inversion after ‘neither / nor’, ‘so’ & ‘such’”, and there is this example:
Such was the weather, that even the most daring windsurfers stayed at
home.
The ...
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1answer
112 views
Is it an inversion in comparison?
There is no strong theoretical or empirical motivation for the view
that grammatical competence is any more or less crucial to successful
communication than is sociolinguistic competence or ...
0
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1answer
182 views
Had Andrew a little patient… - error in the example sentence?
At https://www.learngrammar.net/a/examples-of-inversion-used-in-conditional-sentences there's one example which I think has an error in it. Specifically
Had Andrew a little patient, he could have ...
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1answer
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inversion: with great power comes
#1 below is an instance of inversion, i.e., the subject "great responsibility" follows the verb "comes."
I'd like to know whether this inversion is optional; is #2 correct?
With great power ...
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1answer
65 views
Is “Hardly…when” an idiom?
I know that if I start my sentence with an adverb such as hardly I must invert the subject and the verb,but do I really need to use only "when" afterwards?.For instance,is
Hardly had I entered ...
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1answer
87 views
Whether the sentence is the inversion type or not?
I ran across a sentence from the magazine 'Esquire' through the internet. I'd like to know whether the sentence is the inversion type or not.
Always does he throw the disorder into everything he ...
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2answers
57 views
{be verb} + {subject}
Written by people more or less knowledgeable about the subject and about the history of technology, these accounts tend to focus on the unusual and the spectacular, be it people or lines of research, ...
3
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1answer
219 views
Usage of “at” in “… at the cottage just over my shoulder is where they had been growing cannabis”
Here's a British news report:
And this is what I've transcribed:
Well, last August when it was found that Neil and Yvette Hartley had...had been growing almost 90 cannabis plants, little did their ...
1
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1answer
196 views
Asking a question as part of a sentence
I was wondering what is the grammar rule to include a question as a part of a sentence? Here are some examples:
Example 1:
Can you tell what am I missing? vs. Can you tell me what I am missing?
...
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2answers
69 views
How to use “As……,so……”
Yesterday, I saw a sentence in my textbook. It goes,
As people change, so languages change.
To me, it also means: The language changes in the same way people change.
However, what makes me ...
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6answers
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May not only take… but also it MAY
In this inversion sentence, do I have to use "may" in the relative clause again?
(Assuming you are not sure, that's why you are including "may" in your sentence)
"Robbery may not only take ...
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1answer
48 views
subject vs subject-complement; inversion
Oxford Guide to English Grammar; John Eastwood; Oxford University Press 1994-09
Page 56
We can also sometimes put a complement in front position.
They enjoyed the holiday. Best of all was the ...
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2answers
44 views
When is inversion between the subject and the object or the subject and the complement possible?
When is inversion between the subject and the object or the subject and the complement possible?
For instance:
I stood at the window watching the kids play. <---> At the window watching the ...
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1answer
77 views
Can an inverted sentence start with an adjective?
The following sentence is cited from "gone with the wind":
A little aloof, as became an aristocrat, lay a black-spotted carriage
dog, muzzle on paws, patiently waiting for the boys to go home to
...
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1answer
35 views
Does this inversion take any effect, “Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape.”?
Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to -- everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful ...
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1answer
133 views
Inversion in affirmative sentences
The Guardian has recently published an interview with Kurt Volker, who stated that:
“We can have a conversation with Ukraine like we would with any other country about what do they need.”
Source
...
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1answer
50 views
Why is “are” placed in the middle rather than the end?
I saw the following sentence structure in an American textbook from 2010:
Metal A and B are much more brittle than are metal C and D.
Why is the "are" placed where it is (emphasized in bold)?
...
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1answer
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questions: possible ways of asking what something does
What does your program?
What does your program do?
What your program does?
What is it that your program does?
Your program does what?
Can anyone help me understand how these questions ...
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2answers
63 views
Why can the answer not be “if”? ___ the government in Greece postpone
____ the government in Greece postpone the debts of farmers, they can cope with the economic difficulties.
a. could
b. should
c. only if
d. if
e. even if
Why is answer "d" (if) not ...
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3answers
154 views
Question about WH questions
Here are some interrogative statements which are right/wrong (both in American and British English).
Right-
What took you so long?
Who killed my friend?
What disease took away my ...
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1answer
188 views
What type of construction is “In came I. I. Chundrigar…” where a preposition “in” is placed before the verb “came”?
In the red-marked line i.e.
In came I.I. Chundrigar, a Bombay barrister, to join the Mad Hatter's dance.
See preposition "In" is placed before verb "came".
What types of syntax is it and what is ...
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1answer
58 views
Why is there a subject - verb inversion here? “Also under discussion…were the causes…”
From the Order of Malta's website (https://www.orderofmalta.int/press-release/migrants-refugees-rome-meeting-order-of-malta-european-project-managers/):
"Also under discussion over the two days ...
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2answers
3k views
Neither nor inversion
Neither did she have cracks on her sides, nor was she beautiful.
It's correct, right?
But neither did she have cracks on her sides, nor she was beautiful.
Is it gramatically wrong?
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1answer
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What is the grammar of “my heart burdened be”?
I have some trouble understanding a line from the song, "You Raise Me Up"
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdened be
Then, I am still and wait here in ...
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2answers
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A question about inversion in affirmative sentences
Which is correct?
"In fact it is rather simple, just a story of two children. But in this apparent simplicity the book delivers a wonderful exposition of so great memories, ideas and dreams.
or,
"...
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1answer
79 views
Yesterday was the lawn mowed
I've just learnt about inversion and I'm not sure if it can be used in sentences which are in present simple or past simple. Can the two following sentences I made be inverted?
Original sentence:
...
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2answers
110 views
The first thing I can see in this picture ‘are’ 2 people
The first thing I can see in this picture are 2 people
I happened to see this sentence, and it says using 'is' instead of 'are' is wrong.
As I looked up some grammar stuff, you can invert the ...
