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Rotter Posted 18 years ago
Grammar
But die it will
The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes is travelling in a Volga car along the Volga river to take a snapshot of life in Vladimir Putin's Russia, as the presidential election looms. This is his second piece, from the city of Nizhny Novgorod.
I am going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction. Russia's indigenous car industry is finished. It may take many more years to finally die, but die it will.
The reason is simple - Russian cars are awful.
The worst car I have ever driven, by a long, long way, is a Lada I had the misfortune to try out shortly after arriving in Russia a year-and-a-half ago. I should have learned my lesson. But no.
Now I am preparing to depart on a 1,000-mile (1,609km) road journey, in the middle of the Russian winter, in another horror of Soviet engineering - the Volga.
Stuck in the past
In my first diary entry I waxed lyrical about how the Volga was the Mercedes, Rover, or Buick of the Russian car industry. That was before I had driven one.
I have now taken delivery of an eight-year-old 1.5-tonne black monster.
A day of driving it around the snowbound streets of Nizhny Novgorod, and I think I can safely say it has gone straight in at No.2 in my all time worst car list.
The Volga was, possibly, an OK car when it first came out. But that was in 1970.
My Volga was made 30 years later, and it is essentially exactly the same car. And they are still making them today! Its the equivalent of Ford still building Cortinas, or Vauxhall still making Vivas!
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My question is on the third sentence of the above.
I am going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction. Russia's indigenous car industry is finished. It may take many more years to finally die, but die it will.
What is the meaning of 'but die it will' ? Does it make any sense?
Is it typo?
For me if you wrote 'but it will die' make sense.
I am going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction. Russia's indigenous car industry is finished. It may take many more years to finally die, but die it will.
The reason is simple - Russian cars are awful.
The worst car I have ever driven, by a long, long way, is a Lada I had the misfortune to try out shortly after arriving in Russia a year-and-a-half ago. I should have learned my lesson. But no.
Now I am preparing to depart on a 1,000-mile (1,609km) road journey, in the middle of the Russian winter, in another horror of Soviet engineering - the Volga.
Stuck in the past
In my first diary entry I waxed lyrical about how the Volga was the Mercedes, Rover, or Buick of the Russian car industry. That was before I had driven one.
I have now taken delivery of an eight-year-old 1.5-tonne black monster.
A day of driving it around the snowbound streets of Nizhny Novgorod, and I think I can safely say it has gone straight in at No.2 in my all time worst car list.
The Volga was, possibly, an OK car when it first came out. But that was in 1970.
My Volga was made 30 years later, and it is essentially exactly the same car. And they are still making them today! Its the equivalent of Ford still building Cortinas, or Vauxhall still making Vivas!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My question is on the third sentence of the above.
I am going to go out on a limb here and make a prediction. Russia's indigenous car industry is finished. It may take many more years to finally die, but die it will.
What is the meaning of 'but die it will' ? Does it make any sense?
Is it typo?
For me if you wrote 'but it will die' make sense.
Top answer
Hi Rotter, "But it will die" is perfectly correct and the standard word order. Sometimes you invert the word order to make it more emphatic. That makes "but die it will" also correct.
- Hi Rotter, "But it will die" is perfectly correct and the standard word order.
- Sometimes you invert the word order to make it more emphatic.
- That makes "but die it will" also correct.
- The unusual word order draws the attention of the reader/listener.
- I didn't expect him to come, but come he did!
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2 Answers
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Hi Rotter,
"But it will die" is perfectly correct and the standard word order.
Sometimes you invert the word order to make it more emphatic. That makes "but die it will" also correct. The unusual word order draws the attention of the reader/listener.
I didn't expect him to come, but come he did!
etc.
"But it will die" is perfectly correct and the standard word order.
Sometimes you invert the word order to make it more emphatic. That makes "but die it will" also correct. The unusual word order draws the attention of the reader/listener.
I didn't expect him to come, but come he did!
etc.
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