Niwantha
Why have the authour used the question form in this sentence? Why not statement form? Hi friends, My question is based on below. Context: It’s a conversation between Jane and Alex. Jane says: “Only when I heard your voice did I know you were here, Alex. I could not believe my eyes." I came across the above sentence while reading a book. Generally, we don’t use question form in the middle of a sentence. Instead, we always use statement form. But in this sentence, it is the other way round (“did I know”). Is it wrong or another literary way of expressing the same idea? If so, could you please show me more simple examples on this application? Thanks in advance! Niwantha
Nov 5, 2018 3:49 PM
Answers · 2
4
It's not a question form - it's an inversion. This is the same grammar point as your previous posting about 'Never should you...'. There are certain words and phrases which are followed by an inversion of the verb and subject. This is a formal and fairly literary style.
November 5, 2018
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