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JungKim Posted 9 years ago
Grammar
Only yesterday [inversion or not]
The following is from a Telegraph article "Here’s why I’ll be giving the no make-up selfie a miss".
If my understanding is correct, "only yesterday" has a negative meaning that affects the following clause. And I wonder why the reporter didn't invert the order and say "Only yesterday did her radiographer tell her she couldn't possibly be old enough to have a daughter in her twenties."?
Is the inversion allowed here?
If so, is the inversion optional as opposed to mandatory?
As I understand it, the last sentence means that never before yesterday did her radiographer tell her she couldn't possibly be old enough to have a daughter in her twenties.
More than that, why should anyone dictate that looking as stripped as Shaker furniture is the predetermined lot of the cancer patient? As it happens, my friend and I share a firm belief in the alchemical properties of quality maquillage. Chanel Rouge lipstick and Clinique foundation have proved as important for her morale as chemo has been for her recovery. Only yesterday her radiographer told her she couldn't possibly be old enough to have a daughter in her twenties.
If my understanding is correct, "only yesterday" has a negative meaning that affects the following clause. And I wonder why the reporter didn't invert the order and say "Only yesterday did her radiographer tell her she couldn't possibly be old enough to have a daughter in her twenties."?
Is the inversion allowed here?
If so, is the inversion optional as opposed to mandatory?
Top answer
No. 'Only yesterday' means 'as recently as yesterday'. It should not be inverted.
- No.
- 'Only yesterday' means 'as recently as yesterday'.
- It should not be inverted.
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5 Answers
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No. 'Only yesterday' means 'as recently as yesterday'. It should not be inverted.
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JungKimAs I understand it, the last sentence means that never before yesterday did her radiographer tell her she couldn't possibly be old enough to have a daughter in her twenties.No, it doesn't mean that. In the phrase "only yesterday", the word "only" conveys the idea that yesterday is not long ago. Similar phrases are "only last week", "only last month", e
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Only yesterday, she told me ... - As recently as yesterday, ...
Only yesterday did she tell me - As late as yesterday ...
Only yesterday did she tell me - As late as yesterday ...
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fivejedjonOnly yesterday, she told me ... - As recently as yesterday, ...Only yesterday did she tell me - As late as yesterday ...Are you somehow suggesting that we could use a comma after "Only yesterday" in the original text?
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