1.在以never, hardly, scarcely, rarely, barely, seldom, not only, not until, nor, little, nowhere, hardly….when, no sooner….than, by no means, under no circumstances 等开头的句子中,主谓要倒装。这些都是表示否定或半否定意义的词或词组。
例如:
Never have I come across such a difficult problem.
我还从没有遇到过这样困难的问题。
Seldom do I read such magazines. 我很少读这种杂志。
No sooner had they left than the bus arrived.
他们刚走,公共汽车就来了。
Never before have I met him. 我以前从未见过他。
Hardly did I think it possible. 我想这几乎不可能。
Not only should we not be afraid of difficulties, but we should try our best to overcome them.
我们不但应该不怕困难,而且要尽最大努力克服困难。
Not until midnight did it stop raining. 直到半夜雨才停。
(正常语序是:It did not stop raining until midnight. 注意not位置的变化)
Very seldom do you find that two clocks or watches exactly agree. 你很难发现两个钟或表的时间完全一样。
By no means will this method produce satisfactory results.
这种方法决不会产生令人满意的结果。
翻译练习(使用倒装结构):
1)我从来没有读过这么一本有意思的书。
Never have I read such an interesting book.
2)她一点也不知道会发生什么事。
Little does she know what may happen.
3)我简直不相信这是真的。
Hardly could I believe it (to be) true.
4)我刚到家,就下起大雨来了。
No sooner had I reached home than it began to rain heavily.
5)最近我很少见到她。
Seldom have I met her recently.
6)爱因斯坦不仅是世界闻名的科学家,而且还是一个相当不错的小提琴家。
Not only was Einstein a world famous scientist, but also a fairly good violinist.
7)直到战争结束,他才回家。
Not until after the war did he return home.
(正常语序是: He did not return home until after the war.)
8)在任何情况下,我们都不应该做违反人民意愿的事。
Under no circumstances should we do anything against the will of the people.