Inversion and "Will"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi! i’m reading my first book in english and i have to admit that is much harder than i thought :stuck_out_tongue:
I found this phrase :
“Only later will the grieving Mark learn that his mother’s fatal affliction was actually the work of a vampire”

Does the first part where “will” is placed before “the grieving” could be re-writed this way:
“Only later the grieving Mark WILL learn …etcc” ?

Is it an inversion ?

Thank you all!

2

Hi,

If you put certain words/expressions at the beginning of a sentence, you have to invert the subject and verb that follow as in:

Not only have I seen it, I have bought it also
In no circumstances would I buy a car like that.
Never have I seen such a mess.

With these constructions you emphasize the words at the beginning of the sentence. You can write those sentence with the normal word order if you do not want to emphasise:

I have not only seen it but I have also bought it.
I would in no circumstances buy that car.
I have never seen such a mess

Alan

3

Thank You Alan,
With your examples i understand that i misconceive which is the subject in my sentence:

Probably the subject is “the grieving Mark” (interpretable as “the grieving of Mark”) and not “Mark” as i supposed. Is it correct or i’m in wrong :slight_smile: ?

4

Probably the subject is “the grieving Mark” (interpretable as “the grieving of Mark”) and not “Mark” as i supposed. Is it correct or i’m in wrong :slight_smile: ?-- No, ‘grieving’ is just an adjective modifying ‘Mark’. The simple subject is ‘Mark’ and the complete subject is ‘the grieving Mark’.

5

Awesome Alan and Mister Micawber! i understand!
I feel really sorry for my poor english language mastery, but i think that i found the right place to ask :slight_smile:
Thank you again!