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Thfihe Posted 11 years ago
Grammar

inversion including time adverbials

Hello,
Previously I got replies which tells me the inversion including on his birthday' in sentence (1) is correct.

(1) The king wanted to eat the cake on his birthday, and eat the cake on his birthday he did.

Then, is the inversion of sentence (2), where 'when his birthday came' is used, correct?

(2) The king wanted to eat the cake when his birthday came, and eat the cake when his birthday came he did.
Thank you in advance.
  

Top answer

I am not sure exactly what your question is. "on his birthday" = "when his birthday came" in this context. However, it looks clumsy to repeat "when his birthday came" in the same sentence.

— Michael Chambers Teaching English

  • I am not sure exactly what your question is.
  • "on his birthday" = "when his birthday came" in this context.
  • However, it looks clumsy to repeat "when his birthday came" in the same sentence.
  • It's worth pointing out that this way of speaking is unusual, formal and mostly used in literary contexts.
  • I can imagine it being used in a children's story about a king in a previous era.
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3 Answers
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I am not sure exactly what your question is. "on his birthday" = "when his birthday came" in this context. However, it looks clumsy to repeat "when his birthday came" in the same sentence.

It's worth pointing out that this way of speaking is unusual, formal and mostly used in literary contexts. I can imagine it being used in a children's story about a king in a previous era. The sty
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Thank you for your reply and telling about rhetorical device.
Then, how about the sentence below? Is it still awkward?
The king wanted to eat the cake on his birthday, and eat the cake when his birthday came he did.
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