Rarely does he ...

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1
  1. Rarely does he go fishing.
  2. Rarely did he go fishing last year.

If these sentences are correct, what other adverbs require such a topic when they are the first word in the sentence?
Thanks.

2

Hi Monica,

When you say ‘topic’, I assume you are referring to the inversion of subject and verb.

Here is a link that should keep you quite busy with that:
18 types of subject/verb inversion

Your particular sentences are examples of sentences introduced by a negative (or limiting) adverb, followed by inversion. You can find additional threads right here on this site about subject/verb inversion by using the search function.

Here are a few that I found:
english-test.net/forum/sutra91258.html#91258
english-test.net/forum/sutra40721.html#40721

3
  1. The force of the wind was so strong that it flattened the houses.
    1a. The force of the wind was such a strong that it flattened the houses.
  2. The demand for the computer game was so great that it sold out in two days.
    2a. The demand for the computer game was such a great that it sold out in two days.
  3. The runners were so happy to finish the race that they jumped into the river.
    3a. The runners were such a happy to finish the race that they jumped into the river.
  4. He looked so absurd that everybody stared at him.
    4a. He looked such a absurd that everybody stared at him.
    Are these sentences correct?
4

Only 1, 2, 3 and 4 have the correct structure.
1a, 2a, 3a and 4a are incorrect. They need repetition of the subject which you can see makes them sound very stilted if you use these two patterns combined
The force of the wind was such a strong force that it flattened the houses.
The demand for the computer game was such a great demand that it sold out in two days.
The runners were such a happy lot of runners to finish the race that they jumped into the river.
He looked (like) such an absurd person that everybody stared at him.

Here are examples of the ‘such’ pattern being used more naturally:
The wind blew with such a strong force that it flattened the houses.
The computer game was in such great demand that it sold out in two days.
Such was the happiness of the runners upon finishing the race that they jumped into the river.

5

Beeesneees,
Is this sentence OK?
“The wind had such a strong force that it flattened the houses.”

6

Yes.

7

Hello, ESL Expert!

I found everything I wanted about subject/verb inversion, even more than I thought.
Thank you very much, this has been an old question mark for me till now.

Monica