Rarely in the place of Not

Question

Hi, everyone.He  rarely  returned  until   well after  his family had gone to bed.In the above,  'Rarely' seems to  replace 'Not.'Is this OK?If it is OK,  is the  sentence changed  into   'It was rarely  until ~.'  ?Thanks,Gooday!

Avangi · Accepted Answer

TasmanTigerHe rarely returned until well after his family had gone to bed.

This is fine, but it doesn't replace "not." Can you write a sentence with "not," showing what you mean?

TasmanTigerIf it is OK, is the sentence changed into 'It was rarely until ~.' ?

This is possible, but the more common expression is "It was rarely before ~."

But it would not be natural to say:

"It was rarely before well after his family had gone to bed that he returned."
But it's technically correct.

Edit. I'm struggling a bit with "It was rarely until. . . . "
The rest of the sentence will need to be rewritten.

TasmanTiger · Answer

I mean," He didn't return until well after his family had gone to bed.''

= Not until well after his family had gone to bed did he return.

= It was not until well after his family had gone to bed.

cf. Rarely until well after his family had gone to bed did he return.

= It was rarely until ~.

All of them are accepted grammatically?

Thanks,

Gooday!

Avangi · Answer

TasmanTiger= Not until well after his family had gone to bed did he return.
= It was not until well after his family had gone to bed.

Okay. I see what you mean.

In these sentences, "rarely" would mean "usually not."

It would be a rare occurrence when he came home before his family had gone to bed.

"Rarely" and "usually" are opposites, in a sense.

"Rarely" means "not usually," and "usually" means "not rarely."

When my friend and I play tennis, I rarely win. I usually lose.
But my friend rarely loses. He usually wins. .

You CANNOT say:
It was rarely until well after his family had gone to bed that he returned. .

You CAN say:

It was usually well after his family had gone to bed that he returned. .

By the same token, "before" and "after" are opposites in a sense.

It was rarely before they went to bed that he came home.
It was usually after they went to bed that he came home.

When you try to use "until" in these sentences, you complicate things immeasurably!

If you really wish to pursue it, I'll give it a shot.
(I suspect CJ is growing impatient with me, if he's been looking at this!)

I'll have to draw ****** diagrams to show the relationships between "before," "after," and "until."

TasmanTiger · Answer

Thanks, Avangi!

I am very happy to get your explanation, which is impressive.

I'm studying English as a foreign language.

So, I run into some difficult problems.

I need someone to help me. Finally I have found the someone!

I have learned 'Rarely' as opposite to 'Usually' ,thanks to your advice.

I appreciate you!

Can I ask some questions next time?

Thanks, again.

Gooday!

Avangi · Answer

I look forward to it!  <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Rarely in the place of Not

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