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GRAMMAR AND STRUCTURES

WHAT ARE THEY USED FOR?

SOME EXAMPLES

INVERSION

The inversion of subject and verb after certain negative adverbial introductions, e.g. never, rarely, hardly ever, not only, little, seldom

Creating emphasis, varying style and idiom

Never have I seen such a terrible film.
Little did he know he would one day be Prime Minister.
Not only was it raining, it was also cold.

VERBS FOLLOWED BY THE PAST TENSE

I wish, it’s about time, it’s high time

Expressing hypothesis, regret, decision making and the need for decision making

I wish I had £1million.
It’s high time we did some work.
It’s about time he bought a new car.

DEDUCTION

Using modal verbs followed by the non-finite and perfect non-finite verb using will

Expressing hypotheses and deductions in varying degrees of certainty.

Jane will be in bed at this time of night.
They should have heard the telephone. They must have gone out.
He can’t have finished his homework. If he had, he would have put it on my desk by now.
John might be sitting in the theatre already.

THE INFINITIVE

After certain verbs.
After certain adjectives.
After question words.
The perfect infinitive.

I hope to hear from you shortly. We can’t afford to give you a pay rise. I want you to do something for me. It’s very difficult to explain. Tell me where to go/ how to get there/ what to say. I’d love to have met him. He doesn’t seem to have done it.