Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Inversion means putting the verb before the subject this happen in questions and in number of other cases.
2 kinds of inversion:
TYPE A.In this case an auxiliary comes before the subject and the rest of the verb follows:
I have never felt better. Never have I felt better.
If there is no auxiliary do is used:
I understood only yesterday. Only yesterday did I understand.
TYPE B.In the other kind of inversion, the whole verb is placed before the subject,dois not used:
I love you, whispered John.
Inversion is used in written English or in formal public speeches.
In spoken English is after: HERE, THERE, NEITHER, NOR, SO...e.g.: So do I.
1. Inversion after negative or restrictive (omezujc) adverbs:
SELDOM, RARELY, SCARCELY, NEVER, HARDLY, NO SOONER, ONLY THEN, NOT
ONLY, ONLY
AFTER..., LITTLE, NOT UNTIL, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, AT NO
TIME, ON NO CONDITION, ON NO
ACCOUNT, NOT ONCE, ...
In all this cases, the negative adverb can be placed later without inversion, but sometimes you put it at the beginning for
emphasizing.
NO INVERSION
Ive never watched a better match.
I had no sooner arrived than I had
a new problem to cope with.
Tim had hardly/scarcely left when the phone rang.
Harry not only missed the train but he also lost
his case.
Visitors are not allowed to feed the animals
on any account. any no
I only began to see the results after a year.
mistake.
You shouldnt touch those wires under
any circumstances.
I didnt notice that I had the wrong umbrella
until I got home.
INVERSION (TYPE A)
Never have I watched a better match.
No sooner had I arrived than I had a new problem
to cope with.
Hardly had Tim left when the phone rang.
Not only did Harry miss the train, but he also
lost his case.
On no account are visitors allowed to feed the
animals.
Only after a year did I begin to see the results.
I little realized my
Little did i realize my mistake.
Under no circumstances should you touch those
wires.
Not until I got home did I notice that I had the
wrong umbrella.
2. Inversion after adverbs of place (+noun) followed by intransitive verbs (nemaj za sebou pedmt)
COME, WALK, GO, LIE, STAND, LIVE ( type B)
Charles Dickens lived in this house. In this house lived Charles Dickens.
Now comes the best point.
Here comes John. There goes bus. = this is ordinary spoken English
The castle stood on a hill in front of us. On a hill in front of us stood a castle.
After short adverbs such as:
AWAY, OF, IN, OUT, DOWN, UP, ROUND + Verbs of motion + a noun object inversion is
used too:
Up went the plane. = There is more drama in this construction than in: The plane went up.
BUT!!! Up it went.
QUESTION TAGS
Q.T. are a way of adding a question to a statement. A positive statement has a negative tag and vice versa. If the
intonation falls, the speaker expects the agreement, if it rises, the speaker has made it a genuine question.
You agree with me, dont you?
dont
dont
do
Imperatives:
Dont drive too fast, will you?
Lets have a break, shall we?
Someones got to pay, havent they?
Nobody phoned, did they?
If there is a positive tag after a positive statement, the speaker expresses interest, concern, surprise, anger...
So youre getting married, are you?
You think youre funny, do you?