0
Taka Posted 20 years ago
Grammar

Did I...?

Mr.A: Did I see the greatest concert ever!
Mr.B: Yes! It was absolutely brilliant!

How do you native speakers interpret Mr.A's 'Did I see...'? Just an interrogative, or something else?
  

Top answer

I don't think this is interrogative at all. It's creating an accent by the inversion: Did I see .... He indicates that he really liked the concert.

  • I don't think this is interrogative at all.
  • It's creating an accent by the inversion: Did I see ....
  • He indicates that he really liked the concert.
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

7 Answers
0
I don't think this is interrogative at all.

It's creating an accent by the inversion: Did I see ....
He indicates that he really liked the concert.
0
Hi,

I see this as a rhetorical question, a way of saying 'It was a great concert!'

If it were a real question to get Mr. B's opinion, it would be something like 'Do you think that was the greatest concert ever?'

Best wishes, Clive
0
Marius HancuI don't think this is interrogative at all.

It's creating an accent by the inversion: Did I see ....
He indicates that he really liked the concert.

Yes, that's what my book says.

But I'm wondering if it sounds, to native speakers, the same inversion as:

Never have I
0
They don't sound the same to me.
Never have I seen ... is inversion for the sake of the pre-posed negative.
Did I ... is inversion for the sake of a question - albeit used as an exclamation.

I've heard that formula quite often with an "ever" up front:

Did I ever enjoy that!

And often without the continuation as an emphatic affirmative re
0
Could we call it an exclamatory interrogative, I wonder?
0
So it does sound like interrogative...Hmm...
0
Exclamatory interrogative? Naaah! Interrogative exclamation!

CJ

Related Questions