INVERSIUNE

1. Adverbe de frecventa: rarely, seldom, never

They rarely forgive their enemies.

Rarely do they forgive their enemies.

They seldom slept in the afternoon when they were children.

Seldom did they sleep in the afternoon when they were children.

She never watches soap operas.

Never does she watch soap operas.

2. Cu “only” - only after, only then, only when, not only

She bought the lipstick only after she had tried it.

Only after she had tried the lipstick did she buy it.

She recognized the man only when he came closer.

Only when the man came closer did she recognize him.

I can make a decision only then.

Only then can I make a decision.

His best friend goes out only at night.

Only at night does his best friend go out.

 Not only … but also…

I have not only eaten snails, but I am also not going to eat them.

Not only have I eaten snails, but I am also not going to eat them.
3. Cu hardly, barely, no sooner, or scarcely

I can hardly (scarcely / barely) understand Maths.

Hardly (scarcely / barely) can I understand Maths.

She had no sooner come in the house than it started to rain.

No sonner had she come in the house than it started to rain.

4. Cu “little”

She knows little about this field.

Little does she know about this field.

5. Cu ‘So’, ‘Such’ …. + that

 ‘So + adjectiv … combinat cu verbul ‘to be’.

The exam was so difficult, that few students passed it.

So difficult was the exam that few students passed it.

 Such + to be + noun … that:

Such was the weather that we couldn’t get out of the house.

(So awful was the weather that we couldn’t get out of the house. <= The weather was so awful that we couldn’t get out of
the house)

6. Anumite conditionale

If he had come to the party, I would have left.

Had he come to the party, I would have left.

If I were there, I would try to do something.

Were I there, I would try to do something.

If he should happen to come, give him this book, please.

Should he happen to come, give him this book, please.

Exercitii Inversiune :

1. She was rarely allowed to go on trips when she was a child.

2. She recognized him only when he took off his mask.
3. The baby’s mother had hardly put him in the buggy, when he started crying again.
4. If it should happen to rain, take the laundry into the house, please!
5. I have never dreamed about such an exciting holiday.
6. My mother does not only like talking
7. with people, but she also likes having guests.

Change the normal sentence into one with inversion. For example:

"We had hardly arrived when Julie burst into the house" becomes

"Hardly had we arrived when Julie burst into the house".

1) John had never been to such a fantastic restaurant

Never had John been to such a fantastic restaurant.

2) I in no way want to be associated with this project

In no way do I want to be associated with this project

3) They had no sooner eaten dinner than the ceiling crashed onto the dining table

No sooner had they eaten dinner than the ceiling crashed onto the dining table

4) I had scarcely finished writing my essay when the examiner announced the end of the exam

Scarcely had I finished writing my essay when the examiner announced the end of the exam

5) I seldom leave my house so early

Seldom do I leave my house so early

6) People rarely appreciate this musician’s talent

Rarely do people appreciate this musician’s talent

7) We would understand what had happened that night only later

Only later would we understand what had happened that night

8) They had met such rude people nowhere before

Nowhere had they met such rude people before

9) He understood little about the situation

Little did he understand about the situation

10) The children should on no account go on their own

On no account should the children go on their own

……………………………………
PRONUMELE INTEROGATIV

WHAT inseamna CE.

What is that? - Ce este aceea?

What day is it? - Ce zi este azi?
What is his name? - Ce este numele lui (Cum il cheama)?
What age is he? - Ce este varsta lui (Cati ani are)?
What is in a name? - Ce este intr-un nume (ce inseamna un nume)? - (Romeo si Julieta
- Shakespeare)
What a man! - Ce om!
What are his parents? - Ce sunt parintii lui?
What kind of bread is that? - Ce fel de paine este aceea?

WHICH inseamna CARE si PE CARE Cand nu e intrebare which se refera deobicei la

obiecte sau animale. In cazul oamenilor se foloseste WHO Sigur, cand nu e intrebare,
nu putem vorbi de pronume interogativ.
In acest caz pronumele se numeste relativ.

Which car is Peter's? - Care masina e a lui Peter?

Which ones are your parents? - Care sunt parintii tai?
Which is better? - Care e mai bun?
dar

That is the book WHICH I need. - Aceea e cartea care-mi trebuie.

That is the boy WHO is my neighbor.- Acela e baiatul care e vecinul meu.
The book WHICH I bought. - Cartea pe care am cumparat-o.
That which we call a rose - Cel pe care il numim trandafir (ce numim noi trandafir) -
(Romeo si Julieta - Shakespeare)

WHO inseamna CINE si dupa cum am vazut mai sus poate insemna si care.
Who nu poate fi niciodata adjectiv, nu sta pe langa un substantiv.

Who are you? - Cine esti?

Who is there? - Cine e acolo?(la usa de exemplu)
Who is calling? - Cine suna?
Who are your parents? - Cine sunt parintii tai?
I am who I am - Sunt cine sunt
That is the lady who is my teacher - Aceea este doamna care este profesoara mea
WHOSE inseamna AL CUI, A CUI, AI CUI, ALE CUI dar si
AL CARUI, A CARUI, AI CARUI, ALE CARUI

Whose book is that? - A cui e cartea aceea?

The boy whose mother is an engineer - Baiatul a carui mama e inginer
Chidren, whose nose is long? Pinocchio's! - Copii, al cui nas e lung? Al lui Pinocchio!

WHO - CINE
Who este cine fara prepozitie. Whom este cu prepozitie: pe cine, cu cine, la cine
Cand nu e interogatie Who poate fi tradus si cu CARE sau PE CARE (whom)
Cand se refera mai degraba la oricine, cine se traduce cu whoever.

Who me? - Cine eu?

Who do you think you are? - Cine te crezi?
Who will answer? - Cine va raspunde?
She is the girl who answered. - Ea este fata care a raspuns.
That is the man whom I saw - Acela e omul pe care l-am vazut
Whoever answers, wins - Cine (oricine) raspunde, castiga.

WHOEVER - ORICINE
Cand cine are intelesul de oricine se foloseste whoever.
Anybody sau anyone au deasemeni intelesul de oricine. Cand oricine poate fi inlocuit de
cine atunci se foloseste whoever.
Altfel se foloseste anybody, anyone

Whoever buys you earrings again - Cine ti-o mai lua cercei
Anybody can come to the party - Oricine are voie sa vina la petrecere
Whoever comes to the party, may win a prize - Cine vine la petrecere poate castiga un
premiu

anyone who - whoever

Putem insa inlocui whoever cu anyone who sau anybody who.

This number is for anyone who calls - Acest numar e pentru cine suna
This number is for whoever calls

WHOM - CU CINE, LA CINE, etc

Cand cine e insotit de prepozitie se traduce whom in loc de who
Insa astazi aceasta regula e adeseori incalcata, si forma folosita e tot who.

For whom the bells toll - Pentru cine bat clopotele.

Look who is talking to whom - Uite cine vorbeste cu cine
With whom are you going? - Cu cine mergi?
dar veti auzi mai degraba:
With who are you going?
sau si mai des
Who are you going with?

to whom, to whoever - cui

to whom - la cine, catre cine - deobicei se traduce prin cui

To whom are you writing? - Cui ii scrii?

dar

To whom are you going" - La cine te duci?

Give the old coat to whoever wants it - Da haina veche oricui o vrea,

Primele doua intrebari se zic mai degraba:

Who are you writing to? - Cui ii scrii?

dar

Whom are you going to - La cine te duci?

To whom it may concern - Cui ii poate fi de interes

Propozitie consacrata folosita de firme pe scrisori trimise catre mai multi destinatari
necunoscuti
Poate fi si pe o scrisoare lasata de un sinucigas, in sensul de nimanui nu-i pasa dar
daca e cineva totusi, caruia ii pasa de mine, sa citeasca asta.

who inseamna si caruia, careia, carora

Tell someone who cares - Spune cuiva caruia ii pasa (nu mie)

WHO, WHICH si THAT inseamna CARE

Contextele in care se foloseste fiecare insa difera putin. Who se foloseste in cazul
oamenilor
That si which in cazul fiintelor, obiectelor si conceptelor.

The boy who runs fast - Baiatul care alearga repede

The train that is fast - Trenul care e rapid
The fast train which we saw yesterday - Trenul rapid pe care l-am vazut ieri

That introduce informatii obligatorii, which neobligatorii

They are on the team that won first place - Ei sunt in echipa care a luat locul
intai(identifica echipa).
The present, which I bought her, is very big. - Cadoul pe care i l-am luat e foarte mare.
(Se presupune ca nu ai cumparat si alte cadouri)
That se foloseste la animale si chiar si la oameni.
The big shaggy dog that I love - Cainele mare si latos pe care il iubesc.
The man that conquered Mount Everest - Omul care a cucerit Everestul

Daca propozitia principala incepe cu this, that, these, those se poate folosi which in loc
de that. That car - Masina aceea, masina a fost identificata, deci acum putem folosi
which.

That car which is in the parking lot is Mary's. - Masina aceea care este in parcare este a
Mariei.

Relative pronouns: who

We use who in relative clauses to refer to people, and sometimes to pet animals. We use it to introduce defining and
non-defining relative clauses:
I think there’d be a lot of children who’d love to have a climbing wall in school. (defining)
That’s the dog who doesn’t like me. (defining; referring to a pet animal)
There’s this guy at work, who’s one of my friends, well he’s never been on a train. (non-defining)

Subjects and objects

Who can act as the subject or the object of the relative clause:
She’s going out with a bloke who’s in the army. (who refers to a bloke and is the subject of is in the relative
clause; bloke is an informal word for a man)
The woman who I saw yesterday was Sheila. (who refers to the womanand is the object of saw in the relative clause)

Who + prepositions
We can use who as the complement of a preposition:
It was Cath who Ian gave the keys to. It wasn’t me. (who refers to Cathand is the complement of the preposition to)
We put the preposition at the end of the relative clause, and not immediately before who:
Of all my friends, she’s the one who I know I can rely on.
Not: … the one on who I know I can rely.

Who with collective groups of people

We often use who with collective human nouns (e.g. committee,government, group, panel, police, team):
Nicola phoned the fire brigade, who then alerted the police and social workers.
We do not use who for things:
There are some very good art books which you can get ideas from.
Not: There are some very good art books who you can get ideas from.

Relative pronouns: whom

Warning:

We use whom in formal styles or in writing to refer to people when the person is the object of the verb. It is much
more common in writing than in speaking:
The response of those managers whom I have consulted has been very positive and we are looking forward to
meeting together. (whom refers tothose managers and is the object of consulted in the relative clause)
She was a celebrated actress whom he had known and loved, on and off, almost since her first appearance on the
stage.

Whom + prepositions
The most common use of whom is with a preposition. We can use whom as the complement of a preposition:
The first book was a terrible historical novel for children which was turned down by every publisher to whom it was
sent. (whom refers to every publisher and is the complement of the preposition to)
Drama in schools is particularly good for pupils for whom English is a second language.
We put the preposition before whom.

Compare

more formal less formal

There was only one There was only one
person to whom the old person whothe old man
man spoke. spoke to.
She smiled as she
She smiled as she remembered
remembered the quiet
the quiet scholar who she had
scholar with whom she had
shared a love of books with.
shared a love of books.
Relative pronouns
Relative pronouns introduce relative clauses. The most common relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which,
that. The relative pronoun we use depends on what we are referring to and the type of relative clause.

people and sometimes pet defining and

who
animals non-defining

defining and
non-defining;
which animals and things clause referring
to a whole
sentence

people, animals and things;

that defining only
informal

possessive meaning;

whose for people and animals usually; defining and

sometimes for things in formal non-defining
situations
people in formal styles or in
writing; often with a
defining and
whom preposition; rarely in
non-defining
conversation; used instead
of who if who is the object
no
when the relative pronoun
relative defining only
defines the object of the clause
pronoun