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Paul Evdokimov Posted 11 years ago
Grammar
the choice of the tense
Hi there,
The sentence is from English grammar in context by Vince:
"Seldom have so many people voted for such an unlikely candidate."
The present perfect seems to clash with the frequency adverb 'seldom'.
Any thoughts on how to justify the author's choice?
Thanks for your comments.
The sentence is from English grammar in context by Vince:
"Seldom have so many people voted for such an unlikely candidate."
The present perfect seems to clash with the frequency adverb 'seldom'.
Any thoughts on how to justify the author's choice?
Thanks for your comments.
Top answer
The intended interpretation is A lot of people have voted for that unlikely candidate. That doesn't happen very often. / That hasn't happened often.
- The intended interpretation is A lot of people have voted for that unlikely candidate.
- That doesn't happen very often.
- / That hasn't happened often.
- It's a very common grammatical pattern.
- Seldom [has / have] ...
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5 Answers
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The intended interpretation is
A lot of people have voted for that unlikely candidate.
That doesn't happen very often. / That hasn't happened often.
It's a very common grammatical pattern. Seldom [has / have] ... Note the subject-verb inversion.
Both 'seldom' and its opposite 'often' can be used with the perfect tenses.
That has [seldom / often]
A lot of people have voted for that unlikely candidate.
That doesn't happen very often. / That hasn't happened often.
It's a very common grammatical pattern. Seldom [has / have] ... Note the subject-verb inversion.
Both 'seldom' and its opposite 'often' can be used with the perfect tenses.
That has [seldom / often]
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Then what's the difference (if any) between "Seldom do so many people vote for such an unlikely candidate" and the original sentence?
That has often happened vs That often happens?
That has often happened vs That often happens?
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Paul EvdokimovThen what's the difference (if any) between "Seldom do so many people vote for such an unlikely candidate" and the original sentence? That has often happened vs That often happens?"Seldom do ..." states a general principle regarded as eternally true. "Seldom has ..." summarizes past experience.
CJ
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CalifJim"Seldom do ..." states a general principle regarded as eternally true.Weird...Any general principal regarded as 'always true' emanates from the past experience, implies it, and refers to it.
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Paul Evdokimov CalifJim"Seldom do ..." states a general principle regarded as eternally true.Weird...Any general principal regarded as 'always true' emanates from the past experience, implies it, and refers to it.True, but it also implies the continuation of that experience (theoretically 'forever'), which the version with 'has' or 'have' does not.
C
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