Unit 27: Inversions / possessives
Ngữ pháp Inversions / possessives
📘 Giải thích tiếng Việt
Đảo ngữ với trạng từ phủ định
Khi đưa một cụm trạng từ phủ định lên đầu câu để nhấn mạnh, chủ ngữ và động từ đảo (dùng dạng câu hỏi) dù câu không phải câu hỏi. Cách dùng khá trang trọng. Hình thức: trạng từ phủ định + trợ động từ + chủ ngữ + động từ: Never have I worked so hard. Các từ thường gặp: Never, Rarely, Seldom, No sooner ... than, Hardly ... when, Not only ... but also, Under no circumstances, Little, Not until, Only.
Lưu ý sắc thái
Little đi với động từ chỉ nhận thức (realise, know, suspect): Little did I realise... = hoàn toàn không nhận ra. Với Not until và Only, phải đảo động từ ở mệnh đề chính, không phải mệnh đề thời gian: Not until I had finished was I allowed to go out.
Các dạng đảo ngữ khác
Với so / neither / nor để đồng tình: So am I (đồng ý câu khẳng định), Neither/Nor do I (đồng ý câu phủ định). Sau as, so, such: So late was it that... Trong câu điều kiện trang trọng, đảo ngữ thay cho if: Had I known, I would have applied.
Sở hữu cách 's và s'
Dùng 's với danh từ số ít và số nhiều bất quy tắc (women's rights); chỉ thêm ' với số nhiều tận cùng -s (the workers' pay). Với cụm nhiều từ, 's đặt ở cuối cả cụm: Tom and Harry's office.
Theory
Inversions with negative adverbial words and phrases
When we put some negative adverbial words and phrases at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis, the subject and the verb 'invert'. This means we use the question form of the verb, even though the sentence is not a question. Inversions are quite formal and are not usually used in conversation.
Form: negative adverbial word/phrase + question form
No sooner had I accepted the job than they told me I had to work weekends.
| Negative adverbial | Example |
|---|---|
| Never | Never have I worked so hard in all my life. |
| Rarely | Rarely have I worked so hard in all my life. |
| Seldom | Seldom have I worked so hard in all my life. |
| No sooner (... than) | No sooner had Matt started work than he resigned. |
| Hardly (... when) | Hardly had Matt started work when he resigned. |
| Not only (... but also/too) | Not only were you late for work, but you had also forgotten the report. |
| Under no circumstances | Under no circumstances are employees allowed to leave the building without permission. |
| At no time/point | At no time/point was I told what the job involved. |
| Little | Little did I realise that I would become managing director just two years later. |
| Not until | Not until the next day did I hear that I had got the job. |
| Only | Only at the end of the interview did I think I had a chance of getting the job. |
Watch out!
- Little is used with verbs of thought (realise, know, suspect, etc) and means 'I did not realise/etc at all...'.
- With not until and only, be careful about which verb to invert.
✓ Not until I had finished my homework was I allowed to go out.
✓ Only when I had finished my homework was I allowed to go out.
Other inversions
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| In short answers and other similar structures using so, neither and nor | 'I'm a plumber.' 'Really? So am I!' My sister doesn't like getting ready for work, and neither do I / nor do I. |
| After as, so and such | The manager was nervous about the director's visit, as were the rest of the staff. So late was it that there was no one in the office. Such a hot day was it that no one wanted to work. |
| In conditional sentences | Were our staff better trained, we might make a larger profit. (= If our staff were...) Had I known about the vacancy, I would have applied. (= If I had known...) |
Watch out! Remember that 'So am/do/have I' is used to agree with a positive statement and 'Neither/Nor am/do/have I' is used to agree with a negative statement.
Possessive 's and s'
We can show possession by using 's and s'.
| Use | Example |
|---|---|
| 's with singular nouns, including names, and irregular plurals not ending in -s | the manager's car; Sarah's decision; women's rights |
| Just add an apostrophe to regular plural nouns ending in -s | The workers' pay was increased by ten percent. |
| 's or s' in some time expressions | After an hour's wait; in about ten minutes' time. |
| 's or s' with people (or groups of people) and animals; the/my/etc for other things | John's briefcase; the cat's paw; the back of my computer (not my computer's back) |
Watch out!
- With singular names ending in -s, some people use 's and some just add an apostrophe. Both are correct: Charles's / Charles'.
- With plural names ending in -s, just add an apostrophe: The Smiths' business.
- With phrases, the possessive 's and s' must go at the end of the whole phrase: Tom, Dick and Harry's office; The President of France's visit.
Possessive determiners and pronouns
| Structure | Example |
|---|---|
| Possessive determiners (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) come before a noun | I'm really excited about my new job. |
| Possessive pronouns (mine, yours, his, hers, ours, yours, theirs) are used instead of a noun | My new job is great. How about yours? (= your job) |
| Possessive pronouns can also be used after of to show possession | She's a colleague of mine. (= one of my colleagues) |
Watch out!
- Don't confuse a possessive determiner with a possessive pronoun: ✓ I don't really get on so well with my boss.
- There are no apostrophes in possessive pronouns (not their's).
- Don't confuse its (possessive determiner) and it's (contraction for it is or it has).
Exercise A
Write when or than in each gap.
Exercise B
Choose the correct answer.
Exercise C
If a word or phrase in bold is correct, put a tick (✓). If it is incorrect, rewrite it correctly.
Exercise D
Complete using the correct form of the words in brackets.
Hacker!
No sooner (1) (I / start) working at Tayforth Nielsen, the computer company, than I realised it was the perfect opportunity for my hobby: hacking! Don't get me wrong. At no point (2) (I / have) ever stolen anything. I do it for the challenge. Not only (3) (I / like) proving I can do it, but sometimes (4) (it / help) a company to build a better security system. Rarely (5) (they / see) it like that, of course. I decided I would see if I could break into the Grand Bank system. Little (6) (I / realise) what was waiting for me.
The second day of working there, hardly (7) (everyone else / leave) when I started to try simple passwords. Seldom (8) (this / is) enough, though. You usually have to work much harder than that. Not until midnight (9) (I / get) access to the Grand Bank system. Hardly (10) (I / have) time to look around the system when the door to my office flew open and three men rushed in. Only when (11) (they / show) me their ID (12) (I / realise) it was the police. They had been expecting something like this and had traced my computer! Not only (13) (I / be fired), but (14) (they / keep) all my computer records, too. Maybe it's time to find another hobby.
Exercise E
Complete the sentences so that the meaning remains the same.
Under
Never
Only
At
No
Not
Hardly
Only
Under
At
Exercise F
Complete the responses to these statements.
'So .'
'Neither .'
'Nor .'
'Nor .'
'So .'
'Neither .'
'So .'
Exercise G
Write one word in each gap.
Exercise H
Form possessives from the nouns given.
Exercise I
Complete using the words in the box. Use each word only once.
Exercise J
If a line is correct, put a tick (✓). If there is an extra word in a line, write it next to the number.
FIRST DAY AT WORK
1 Well, Trisha, that's my first day at my new job out of the way. I wasn't 2 sure what to expect, but it turned out okay. My manager was really nice, 3 much nicer than yours boss sounds from your letter. No sooner had I arrived 4 at work than did he made me a cup of tea! It was a really pleasant surprise. 5 Not only did he do that, but he was also kind enough to explain to me how 6 everything worked. The office is really modern and its comfortable. The other 7 people all have their own desks, but mine desk still hasn't been delivered, so 8 I am sharing with someone else for now. Little did I not realise when I took 9 the job that I was going to enjoy it so much. I have finally found a job that I 10 am happy in, and so will you have, I'm sure. Hope tomorrow's as much fun!
