@ inversions / possessives 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 ofthe verb, even though the sentence is not a question. Inversions are quite formal and are not usualy used in conversation. Form negative adverbial word/phrase + question form No sooner had laccepted the,ob than they told me thad to work weekends. Negative adverbial Example Never Never have worked so hardin ally ie Aaely Rarely have worked so hardin ally a Seldom Seldom havel worked so hardin allmy if | No soone than) "No sooner hod Matt started work than he resigned Hardly C.when) Hardly had Matt started work when he esgned Noronly(butelsaftoc) | Notonly were you late fr work, but you hada forgotten the report. Under nocirumstances | Undernocireumstances are employees allowed to leave the buldng without permision ‘Ainotimepoint ‘Ato time/point was Itold what thejobinvolved. lite Lil didreatise tat! would become managing decor jst wo years ter. Norunti | Not until the next day did hear tht had tthe job. ____| Oniy atthe end ofthe interview did think had a chance of geting the job. is used with verbs of thought (realise know, suspect ete] and means'Idid not realise/etc at all. ware OU ¥ Little did know how things were going to turn os {1 did not know at all hvr things were going to turn out) © With not unt and ony,you have to be careful about which verb to invert. Not until had finished my homework was Vallowed t09o out. x Other inversions Use In short answers and othe similar ot structures using so,neither and nor | Realy? So am X Notuntithad- finished my homenoritwas-allowediogeout— ¥ Only when had finished my homework was allowed t0 go out. Only when had I finished ny homework war allowed: 10.90-0u- Example ima plumber: My sister doesnt ike getting ready for work, and neither do /nor dol After aso and such Inconditional sentences Ze femember that So am/do/have is used to agree witha positive statement and Neither/Nor sarc OE anvdoshave is used to agree with anegatve statement realy ike my jb'S0 do ‘realy dont he my ob'"Neither do 1/Nor do L” ‘The manager was nervous about the directors visi, as were the rest of the staff ‘So ate was it that there was no one inthe office. ‘Such a hot day was it that no onewanted to work. Were our staff better tained, we might makea larger proft.(= four staf were better trained .) Had known about the vacancy, | would have applied. (= If had known =)‘We can show possession by using sand s. Use Example We use swith singular nouns, including names,and with iegular plurals which do not end in-s That's the manager's ca over there. We are still waiting for Sarah's decision about who to take on. think that women’s rights should be protected by law. ‘We just add an apostrophe to regular plural nouns ending ins. ‘The workers’ pay was increased by en percent. We use’s ors'in some time expressions. ‘Alteran hour's wait finally otto se the manager. Fibeat the factory in about ten minutes’ time. ‘We usually use’s or s'with people (or groups composed of people) and animals. For other things, we normally use of thelmylete. 1s this John's briefcase? We held a meeting to discuss the company's finances. The vet hada close loka the at's paw. The technician had aclose lookat the back of my computer (oot at my computer's back) © With singular names ending in-s,some people use sand some people just add an apostrophe. They are both correct although using $ ¥, Thereportis on Charles's computerin the office. Y_ Thereportison Charles‘ computerin the offic. ‘With plural names ending ns, ve just add an apostrophe, as with other plural. The Smiths’ business eventually closed down. | | @ With phrases, the possessive sand s’must go at the end of the whole phrase. | Tom, Dickand Harrys ofceis cround here somewhere. x Tom, Dic’ and ays ofceancmtinmstnehete ¥ The Fresident of France's visit to England will be good for business. x Structure Possessive determiners and pronouns Example Possessive determiners (my, your his, her its, our, ther) come before a noun and show possession 1m realy excited about my new job. Are you looking forward to meeting your new boss? Possessive pronouns (mine, yours hishers, ours yours, thers) are used instead of a noun | Possessive pronouns can also be used after ofto show possession x x x ‘My new jobs great. How about yours? (= .your Job) Our business's doing quite well but hear Simon and Julie are having problems with theirs. (= .their business) ‘She's colleague of mine. (= one of my colleagues) Are they customers of yours? {© A common mistake to be avoided is using a possessive pronoun instead of a possessive: determiner or using a determiner instead ofa pronoun. Y [dont realy get on so well with my boss ¥ Tknow your ob is dangerous, but did Frank and Jenny tell you about theirs? a . © Remember that there are no apostrophes in possessive pronouns. © Don't get confused between its (possessive determiner, without an apostrophe) and its (contraction for itsorithas, with an apostrophe). 7 Ourcompany is hoping to increase its share of the market