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When are you able place the subject after the verb in a sentence which is not a quest
I've noticed that in the following sentence " The dormitory was completely silent, and, had he been less preoccupied, Harry have realised that the absence of Neville's usual snores meant that he was not the only one lying awake". There is an inversion of verb and subject in the second line of this paragraph and I've been always taught to tell the verb after the subject if I don't want make a question. So I don't understand because It's said "...; had he been less preoccupied...". I'd be very grateful to you if you could explain to me the why.
By the way maybe I have just made some mistakes. English is not my mother tongue. However I hope that you could help me. Thank you very much. |
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had he been less preoccupied is identical to if he had been less preoccupied This is used only in cases when something did not happen: I would have been famous, had I practised the piano more (...but I didn't) I would have made a meal had I known you were going to visit ( ... but I didn't know) Does that help? By the way, Harry Potter is terrible English - the Spanish translation is much better. :rolleyes: |
Wow, welcome MarkRamsey, and thank you Perikles for the explanation... (I had no idea of the "terribility" of Harry Potter in English... I thought it was terrific, given the ample dissemination these books have experienced...)
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I listened to the first Harry Potter book in Spanish (by Salamandra editors) and it was quite a pleasure... (Highly recommended!)
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