At no time did the company break the law.
The company did not break the law at any time.
Under no circumstances should you travel alone.
You should not travel alone under any circumstances.
Never in my life have I seen such extraordinary behaviour (GB)/ behavior (US).
I have never seen such extraordinary behavior in my life.
The telephone had been disconnected. Nor was there any electricity. (GB)
A practical guide to English grammar 19
There wasn't any electricity either.
Seldomdid we have any time to ourselves.
We seldom had any time to ourselves.
Only in summer is it hot enough to sit outside.
It's only hot enough to sit outside in summer.
The pattern with inversion can sound formal and literary, although “no way” is informal.
No wayam I going to let this happen.
NOTE
A phrase with not can also come in front position for emphasis.
Not since his childhood had Jeff been back to the village.
Jeff had not been back to the village since his childhood.
18 Questions This is a short introduction to questions. For more details about questions and answers, • 2 1 .
Doctor: Where does it hurt?
Patient: Just here. When I lift my arm up.
Doctor: Has this happened before?
Patient: Well, yes, I do get a pain there sometimes, but it's never been as bad as this.
Doctor: I see. Could you come over here and lie down, please?
The most basic use of a question is to ask for information, ” Where does it hurt? -Just here”. But questions can have other uses such as requesting, “Could you come over here, please?”
There are wh-questions and yes/no questions. Wh-questions begin with a question word, e.g. where, what. In most questions there is inversion of subject and auxiliary. • 23
