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Sayaka Posted 17 years ago
Grammar
Inversion, hardly
Hi. I'd like to know about inversion of a word "hardly."
"Hardly" is a negative word. So, when "hardly" is put at the beginning of a sentence, inversion happens.
1. Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang.
2. Hardly do I know about her.
3. Rarely do I have a dream.
I often see a form of sentence No.1, but I do not often see a form of No.2.
So, I googled, using yahoo.com.
Result is like this:
"rarely do i": There are 1,270,000 hits.
"hardly do i": There are only 10,900 hits.
"hardly had i": There are 45,800 hits.
So, my hypothesis is:
When "hardly" is put at the beginning of a sentence, inversion happens, but only when it is an idiom of "hardly ~ when/before."
When it is "hardly" alone, basically "hardly" is not put at the beginning of a sentence.
This is because the meaning of "hardly" is near that of "not," and "not" is not put at the beginning of a sentence, and neither is "hardly."
However, the meaning of "rarely" is different from that of "not." So, "rarely" is okay to be put at the beginning of a sentence.
Is that right? That's my question!
What do you think as a native speaker of English?
Thank you.
March 6th 2009, sayaka, Japanese.
"Hardly" is a negative word. So, when "hardly" is put at the beginning of a sentence, inversion happens.
1. Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang.
2. Hardly do I know about her.
3. Rarely do I have a dream.
I often see a form of sentence No.1, but I do not often see a form of No.2.
So, I googled, using yahoo.com.
Result is like this:
"rarely do i": There are 1,270,000 hits.
"hardly do i": There are only 10,900 hits.
"hardly had i": There are 45,800 hits.
So, my hypothesis is:
When "hardly" is put at the beginning of a sentence, inversion happens, but only when it is an idiom of "hardly ~ when/before."
When it is "hardly" alone, basically "hardly" is not put at the beginning of a sentence.
This is because the meaning of "hardly" is near that of "not," and "not" is not put at the beginning of a sentence, and neither is "hardly."
However, the meaning of "rarely" is different from that of "not." So, "rarely" is okay to be put at the beginning of a sentence.
Is that right? That's my question!
What do you think as a native speaker of English?
Thank you.
March 6th 2009, sayaka, Japanese.
Top answer
Welcome to the forum! I comment on your sentences as a native speaker woutd say them sayaka 1. Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang.
- Welcome to the forum!
- I comment on your sentences as a native speaker woutd say them sayaka 1.
- Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang.
- >> I had hardly finished dinner when the phone rang.
- "Hardly" is an adverb, and is most natural when placed before the verb.
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7 Answers
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Welcome to the forum! I comment on your sentences as a native speaker woutd say them
sayaka1. Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang.>> I had hardly finished dinner when the phone rang. "Hardly" is an adverb, and is most natural when placed before the verb. Your sentence is OK, and the word order is fine. It emphasizes the near interruption of your dinn
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Thank you for answering my question.
And I KNOW why "Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang." is okay, why "Hardly do I know about her." is not natural, and why "Rarely do I have a dream." is okay. As a Japanese, I don't know why "Hardly had I..." is okay and why "Hardly do I..." is not okay. I think this is a very difficult question even though you are a native speaker, but I'd
And I KNOW why "Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang." is okay, why "Hardly do I know about her." is not natural, and why "Rarely do I have a dream." is okay. As a Japanese, I don't know why "Hardly had I..." is okay and why "Hardly do I..." is not okay. I think this is a very difficult question even though you are a native speaker, but I'd
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The problem with "hardly do I know about her." is the prepositional phrase - "about her". The way to say this is "I hardly know her." The inversion would be "Hardly do I know her."
English is a language that is quite sensitive to word order. The normal order is "subject-verb-object" with the modifier words placed near the word that they modify. Inversions of verb and subject are normally
English is a language that is quite sensitive to word order. The normal order is "subject-verb-object" with the modifier words placed near the word that they modify. Inversions of verb and subject are normally
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sayakaSo, my hypothesis is:
When "hardly" is put at the beginning of a sentence, inversion happens, but only when it is an idiom of "hardly ~ when/before."
When it is "hardly" alone, basically "hardly" is not put at the beginning of a sentence.
This is because the meaning of "hardly" is near that of "not," and "not" is not put at the beginning of a sentence, an
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I seem to have forgotten the basic rule of inversion. It is used when they want to emphasize something.
I've understand.
Thank you very much.
Please answer me again if I put a question here.
sayaka
I've understand.
Thank you very much.
Please answer me again if I put a question here.
sayaka
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Hello,
"Hardly" is used with an inversion at the beginning of the sentence only when there is time relation, i.e. when one event quickly follows another. Hence the idiom:
"Hardly... + inversion (usu. past perfect) + ...when... + (past)"
Hardly had I finished dinner when the phone rang.
Hardly had I noticed Sam when he start
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Fronted "hardly" can also trigger inversion in such examples as
"Hardly did I know that he was bringing his girlfriend too."
"Hardly was I likely to like France if I didn't even like the food or the people!"
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