Grammar Practice - Negative Adverbial Clauses
When a sentence begins with a negative adverb, the auxiliary verb is inverted. In other words, the auxiliary verb is placed in front of the grammatical subject of the sentence, instead of being in its usual position, which is next to the main verb. Therefore, an inverted sentence follows this pattern:
Negative adverb + auxiliary verb + grammatical subject + main verb
Look at this example from reading passage 1 in Practice Test 1 and notice how it follows the pattern given above:
Example: Not only do sports exist as a source of entertainment for the American public, but also as a lucrative business enterprise for those who provide financial backing.
Not only (negative adverb) + do (auxiliary verb) + sports ( grammatical subject) + exist (main verb)
If this sentence were not inverted, it would look like this:
Sports exist not only as a source of entertainment for the American public, but also as a lucrative business enterprise for those who provide financial backing.
Notice that the word "do" is added when the sentence is inverted.
Here are some negative adverbs that are commonly encountered on the MTELP examination:
never / never before / not / only when / only once / seldom / rarely / hardly ever
These negative adverbs can be placed into five categories:
TYPE 1: If the original sentence contains an auxiliary verb, such as would, had, or did, the auxiliary verb is inverted.
Example:
Original sentence: I had seen her only once before then.
Inverted sentence: Only once before then had I seen her.
TYPE 2: If the original sentence does not contain an auxiliary verb, the verb do is used in the inverted sentence.
Example:
Original sentences: Sarah not only failed the driving test, she also had an accident.
Inverted sentence: Not only did Sarah fail the driving test, she also had an accident.
TYPE 3: If the original sentence is in the negative (i.e., if it contains the words not or never), the negative word is placed at the beginning of the inverted sentence.
Examples:
Original sentence: Mary didn't tell a single person her secret.
Inverted sentence: Not a single person did Mary tell her secret.
Original sentence: I have never experienced anything like that before.
Inverted sentence: Never before have I experienced anything like that.
TYPE 4: If the original sentence contains the word when, the inverted sentence begins Only when. You may also need to add do to the second part of the inverted sentence.
Example:
Original sentence: John remembered his co-worker's name when they had finished their conversation.
Inverted sentence: Only when they had finished their conversation did John remember his co-worker's name.
TYPE 5: If the original sentence contains an adverb of frequency such as often or not often, the inverted sentence can begin with Seldom, Rarely, or Hardly ever.
Example:
Original sentence: Mark doesn't go on vacation often.
Inverted sentence: Rarely does Mark go on vacation.
Exercise: Write a new sentence as similar as possible in meaning to the sentence provided, using the negative adverbial phrases indicated below. It may be helpful to identify the type of sentence by looking at the examples above.
1) Bread would not be available at the grocery store until noon.
Not until . . .
2) Frank realized he had forgotten to fill up his truck when it ran out of gas.
Only when . . .
3) I have never changed a flat tire in my life.
Never before . . .
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