25 GRAMMAR Inversion and question tags Inversion after negative adverbs In formal speech and writing there is a special construction when the sentence begins with a negative adverb (or one with negative meaning). The subject and the verb are inverted from the normal form to a question form. Study the examples below. © Not only Harry not only missed the train, but also lost his case (normal form) Not only did Harry miss the train, but (he) also lost his case. (inversion) © No sooner With no sooner the main verb is always in the past perfect. Tim had no sooner left, than the phone rang. (normal form) No sooner had Tir left, than the phone rang. (inversion) © Under no circumstances You shouldn't touch these wires under any circumstances. (normal form) Under no circumstances should you touch these wires. (inversion) © Seldom Thave seldom watched a better match. (normal form) Seldom have I watched a better match. (inversion) © Other expressions which are followed by an inversion are: littie, never, not once, only then, only after, rarely Inversion to emphasize an adverb With some expressions we can begin the sentence with an adverb and then put the verb before the subject. © With come and go we can start the sentence with an adverb of place, This construction is used with exclamations. It is an informal usage. Here comes Jack! There goes my money! Up went the plane into the clouds! Along the road came Jim, © With live and stand we can start the sentence with an adverb of place. This is a formal usage, In this house lived Charles Dickens. On a hill outside the town stands the castle. © With be we can begin the sentence with now. Now is the best time to visit the Channel Islands. 177FIRST CERTIFICATE LANGUAGE PRACTICE 178. Question tags © Sometimes a simple statement is too short and does not help the conversation to develop in a friendly way. You're French. The other person does not know what to say. We can add a tag to the end of the statement so that it becomes a question. You're French, aren't you? Now the other person knows that they have to reply and the conversation can continue. 1F the intonation of the tag rises itis a genuine question. The other person will probably continue the conversation. |A: You're French, aren't you? \» B: Yes, that’s right. I was born in a town in the north of France although now I live .. If the intonation falls, itis just checking information. The first speaker will probably continue, A: You're French, aren't you? ~~ B: Yes, that's right. A: thought you were. Have you met Pierre? He’ from France as well. © Tags are formed using auxiliaries (do, be, have or a modal). Helen lives here, doesn't she? You left early, didn’t you? Jack was born in Italy, wasn’t he? You will help me, won't you? Someone's got to pay, haven't they? ‘© A positive statement has a negative tag, and expects the answer Yes. A: You agree with me, don't you? : Yes, Ido, A negative statement has a positive tag, and expects the answer No. A: You don’t take sugar, do you? B: No, I don't Itis possible for a positive tag to follow a positive statement, to express interest, or ask for confirmation. This is less common. So you like working here, do you? ‘Tags with will and won't can be used after imperatives. Don't drive too fast, will you? © Let’ ... has a tag formed with shall. Let's have a drink, shall we?GRAMMAR 25 INVERSION AND QUESTION TAGS 1 Underline the most suitable words in each sentence. Seevaueene 1 Lets go to London next weekend, shall we / won't we? You shouldn't have told me, did you / should you? Jim hasn't been waiting long, was he / has he? ‘You wor't tell anyone about this, do you / will you? You're not doing what I told you, do you / are you? ‘Answer the phone for me, will you / do you? George can't have noticed, can he / has he? You've got to leave now, don't you / haven't you? Pam and Tim got married last year, didn’t they / haven't they? I dont think John’s very friendly, does he / is he? 2. Rewrite each sentence so that it begins with the word or words in italics. The best time to buy a house is now. Mew.bs. tne best tine £0. Mid Yy RMA EE. ‘The bus came round the corner. The price of petrol went up. ‘The Parthenon stands on the top of the Acropolis, ‘The wheels of the engine went round and round. ‘Winston Churchill lived in this house, The flag went down. ‘The best part of the story comes now. ‘The protesters came along the road. The first day of the rest of your life is today. 3. Add suitable question tags. (Do not use positive tags for positive statements.) 1 eewaueen 10 Don’t leave anything behind, will. pation? David is bringing some wine, - You'll be home before midnight, Harry was working in Bristol then, Nobody knows who invented the wheel, You dont need me any more, . ‘The ticket to London doesn't cost a lot, .. Let's invite the Smiths from next door, You arer't too busy to talk, Jean owns a restaurant, . 179FIRST CERTIFICATE LANGUAGE PRACTICE 4 Decide which answer (A, B, C or D) best fits each space. Asking for advice | You don’t happen to know how this music system Works, (1) Co. 2 2). + had T bought it (3) .n.csennuen [regretted spending so much money! I haven't even got the instruction booklet only the box. (4). did T completely fail to understand the instructions, (5) ween then I accidentally threw the booklet away. Now I'll never understand it, (6) Isaid to myself. (7) .. you. You've done an electronics course, (8) wnnsncunnenne ? Let’ look at it together, and try to understand it. You press this button first, (10) 2? Then (11) een this little red light, and then nothing happens when you try to put ina CD. The screen here should light up, (12) sneseesneeee ? YOu can work out how to use it, (13) 2 Don't do that! It says here on the box: ‘(14) ... Should an unqualified person remove this panel’. Well, you are unqualified, (15) ..? What do you .. my money, I thought, but then remembered mean, do it yourself! 1 Aare you Bisit Cdo you Disn'tit 2 ANosooner BB After CNot only DAS soon as 3. A that Bout Cand Dthan 4 ANotonly BSeldom CNot once D Only then 5 Athan Bout Cs Dand 6 Acan'tl Bwon'tl CwillT Deant 7 Altgoes BGoes it CGoes there D There goes 8 Aisnitit Bhaver'tyou —Cdidn't you Ddont you 9 Adowe Bdontit C shall we Daren we 10 Adon you Bisn'tit Can't you Dwor't you 11 Aon comes Becomes on Citcomeson — Dcomesiton 12 Adoesit B should it Cshouldnt it Dwon'tit 13. Aisn'tit Bdor't you Ceantt you Deantit 14 ANotonly B Only then CNever D Under no circumstances 180 15 Aisntit Bare you Cont you Daren't youGRAMMAR 25 INVERSION AND QUESTION TAGS. w Rewrite each sentence, beginning as shown. Do not change the meaning. 1. Tony was not only late, but he had left all his books behind. Not only ...1was.Tanly. late, uc ne nad. left aU. ts, books. vehi 2 had no sooner gone to bed than someone rang my doorbell. No S0OMEF wenn 3. Thave seldom stayed in a worse hotel, Seldom... 4. Thave never heard such nonsense! Never .. 5 [realized only then that [had lost my keys Only then .. 6 The economic situation has rarely been worse. Rarely suns 7 The manager not once offered us an apology. Not once 8 You should not send money to us by post under any circumstances. Under no circumstances... 9 Tunderstood Hamlet only after seeing it on the stage. Only after seeing Hamlet... 10. The embassy staff little realized that Ted was a secret agent. Little Key points * 1 In formal speech and writing it is possible to use inversion after negative adverbs. The adverb has to be at the beginning of the sentence or clause. 2. Intonation carries important meaning in question tags. Rising tags are questions, falling tags are checking information. & Your name’ Pauline, isn't it? (question) 5 Your name’ Pauline, isn't it? (checking) 3 Inversion with come and go is informal. Look out, here comes the teacher! > SEE ALSO Consolidation 7: Units 25-28 181