Negation

A finite indicative verb (or its clause) is negated by placing the word not after an auxiliary, modal or other "special" verb such as do, can or be. For example, the clause I go is negated with the appearance of the auxiliary do, as I do not go. When the affirmative already uses auxiliary verbs (I am going), no other auxiliary verbs are added to negate the clause (I am not going). (Until the period of early Modern English, negation was effected without additional auxiliary verbs: I go not.)

Most combinations of auxiliary verbs etc. with not have contracted forms: don't, can't, isn't, etc. (Also the uncontracted negated form of can is written as a single word cannot.) On inversion of subject and verb (such as in questions), the subject may be placed after a contracted negated form: Should he not pay? or Shouldn't he pay?

Other elements, such as noun phrases, adjectives, adverbs, infinitive and participial phrases, etc., can be negated by placing the word not before them: not the right answer, not interesting, not to enter, not noticing the train, etc.

When other negating words such as never, nobody, etc. appear in a sentence, the negating not is omitted (unlike its equivalents in many languages): I saw nothing or I didn't see anything, but not (except in non-standard speech) I didn't see nothing. Such negating words generally have corresponding negative polarity items (ever for never, anybody for nobody, etc.) which can appear in a negative context, but are not negative themselves (and can thus be used after a negation without giving rise to double negatives).

Phrase

In everyday speech, a phrase may be any group of words, often carrying a special idiomatic meaning; in this sense it is synonymous with expression. In linguistic analysis, a phrase is a group of words (or possibly a single word) that functions as a constituent in the syntax of a sentence, a single unit within a grammatical hierarchy. A phrase typically appears within a clause, but it is possible also for a phrase to be a clause or to contain a clause within it.

Adverb

An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective, determiner, clause, preposition, or sentence. Adverbs typically express manner, place, time, frequency, degree, level of certainty, etc., answering questions such as how?, in what way?, when?, where?, and to what extent?. This function is called the adverbial function, and may be realized by single words (adverbs) or by multi-word expressions (adverbial phrases and adverbial clauses).

Adverbs are traditionally regarded as one of the parts of speech. However, modern linguists note that the term "adverb" has come to be used as a kind of "catch-all" category, used to classify words with various different types of syntactic behavior, not necessarily having much in common except that they do not fit into any of the other available categories (noun, adjective, preposition, etc.)

Subject–auxiliary Inversion

Subject–auxiliary inversion involves placing the subject after a finite auxiliary verb, rather than before it as is the case in typical declarative sentences (the canonical word order of English being subject–verb–object).

Note that forms of the verb be are included regardless of whether or not they function as auxiliaries in the sense of governing another verb form.

A typical example of subject–auxiliary inversion is given below.

• Sam has read the paper. - Statement
• Has Sam read the paper? - Yes–no question formed using inversion

Here the subject is Sam, and the verb has is an auxiliary. In the question, these two elements change places (invert). If the sentence does not have an auxiliary verb, this type of simple inversion is not possible. Instead, an auxiliary must be introduced into the sentence in order to allow inversion:

• Sam enjoys the paper. - Statement with the non-auxiliary verb enjoys
• *Enjoys Sam the paper? - This is idiomatically incorrect; simple inversion with this type of verb is considered archaic
• Does Sam enjoy the paper? - The sentence formulated with the auxiliary does now allows inversion. For details of the use of do, did and does for this and similar purposes.

For exceptions to the principle that the inverted verb must be an auxiliary, see below.

It is also possible for the subject to invert with a negative contraction (can't, isn't, etc.). For example:

• He isn't nice.
• Isn't he nice? - The subject he inverts with the negated auxiliary contraction isn't.

Compare this with the uncontracted form Is he not nice? and the archaic Is not he nice?.

Subject–verb Inversion in English

Subject–verb inversion in English is a type of inversion where the subject and verb (or chain of verbs, verb catena) switch their canonical order of appearance, so that the subject follows the verb(s), e.. A lamp stood beside the bed → Beside the bed stood a lamp. Subject–verb inversion is distinct from subject–auxiliary inversion because the verb involved is not an auxiliary verb.

C1 / Advanced

A CEFR C1 level English language user is considered to be at Advanced level. A C1 level English language user is expected to have the following abilities:

• Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and recognize implicit meaning
• Can express themselves fluently and spontaneously, almost effortlessly.
• Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and professional purposes.
• Can produce clear, well-structured, detailed text on complex subjects, showing controlled use of organizational patterns, connectors and cohesive devices.
• Can understand specialized articles and longer technical instructions, even when they do not relate to their field.
• Can use the language effectively and appropriately in their professional and academic life.

At C1 level, English language users are expected to have a high level of fluency and comprehension, with the ability to understand and produce complex language with ease. They should be able to communicate effectively in a variety of settings, both social and professional, using the language flexibly and appropriately. They should also be able to understand specialized texts and technical instructions with little difficulty.

C1 | Advanced.

Difficulty: Hard

Hard difficulty. Difficulty levels represent author's opinion about how hard a question or challenge is.