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Mr. Tom Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

Inversion: Not far from here you can see foxes.

0Hi02br
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00Could you please tell me why inversion does not work in the following sentences?01blockquote
00 Not far from here 11b10you can see foxes12b10. 11b10 (correct)12b12br
12br
10Not far from here 11b10can you see foxes12b10. 11b10 (incorrect)12b12br
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10Not long after that 11b10she got married.12b10 11b10 (correct)12b12br
12br
10Not long after that 11b10did she get married. 12b10 11b10 (incorrect)12b12br
12blockquote
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Top answer

02br 02br 00Can you see foxes? 0-

— BarbaraPA

  • 02br 02br 00Can you see foxes?
  • 0-
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9 Answers
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0This doesn't have anything to do with inversion, it has to do with word order when making a statement versus asking a question.02br
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00You can see foxes.02br
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00Can you see foxes? 02br
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00She got married.02br
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00Did she get married?02br
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00The "Not far from here" and the "Not
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0 Hi Tom02br
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00There is a fairly fixed list of words and phrases which, when placed at the beginning of a sentence or clause, will neccesitate the inversion of the subject and verb. "Not far from here" is not on that list. 05002br
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00Off the top of my head, I can think of only three phrases beginning with the word 'not' that would result in inv
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0 But this one seems correct: Not far from there stood Edgar Snow the famous American author. 0-
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0 It has to do with what is negated.02br
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00 1. Complete negation of the idea in the main clause is necessary to trigger inversion.02br
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01i00Nowhere can you see foxes.02i00 ( You simply 01u00cannot02u00 see foxes. The possibility of seeing them is completely blocked.)02br
01i00Never d
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0 01blockquote
01cite10Maple12cite10But this one seems correct: Not far from there 11font10stood12font10 11font10Edgar Snow11b10,12b10 the famous American author12font10.12blockquote
10Hi Maple02br
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0I shall spend some time to digest your above views. They’re helpful. Thank you very much!!0-
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0 01blockquote
00Not far from there stood Edgar Snow the famous American author.12blockquote
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00 Maple,02br
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00 This is "locative inversion"; it is not motivated by negation.02br
00 Complete negation of the main clause triggers 01u00obligatory02u00 "fronted negative inversion". (Acc
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0Jim, thank you Sooo very much for this delicate elaboration!02br
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00Maple0-
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0The inversion does not work in the sentences you give because it is only possible to perform this inversion with intransitive verbs or passivised transitives. So the passive version of the foxes sentence is OK: 02br
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00Not far from here can be seen foxes.02br
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00This is called locative inversion (as other posters have noted), which is why it is ba
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