[Grammar] It was not until...

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notletrest

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[FONT=&#23435] It was ---back home after the experiment.[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]A.not until midnight did he go ...[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]C.not until midnight that he went...[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]In the above sentence ,if we choose A. is it right? [/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435] I have met with the following one :[/FONT][FONT=&#23435]It was not until after I came to this country did I realize that most Americans had to work hard to earn a living just like my people in myt own country.[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]Please give your comments on them.Thanks ![/FONT]
 

bhaisahab

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[FONT=&#23435] It was ---back home after the experiment.[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]A.not until midnight did he go ...[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]C.not until midnight that he went...[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]In the above sentence ,if we choose A. is it right? [/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435] I have met with the following one :[/FONT][FONT=&#23435]It was not until after I came to this country did I realize that most Americans had to work hard to earn a living just like my people in myt own country.[/FONT]
[FONT=&#23435]Please give your comments on them.Thanks ![/FONT]
A is incorrect, you could say "Not until midnight did he go..." It's an awkward sentence though.
 

BobK

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:up:
[FONT=宋]... I have met with the following one :[/FONT][FONT=宋]It was not until after I came to this country did I realize that most Americans had to work hard to earn a living just like my people in myt own country.:cross:[/FONT]

The implication of bhaisahab's post is that what you've heard is wrong:) - though it is a fairly common* mistake.

b

*PS Particularly, it seems to me , in Irish speakers (who formed a large proportion of my teachers and colleagues at school). Perhaps there's some interference from Gaelic syntax. Is that possible, bhaisahab?
 
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bhaisahab

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:up:



*PS Particularly, it seems to me , in Irish speakers (who formed a large proportion of my teachers and colleagues at school). Perhaps there's some interference from Gaelic syntax. Is that possible, bhaisahab?
Yes, that does seem possible. I hadn't thought of it like that.
 

bhaisahab

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In fact it translates readily, almost word for word, into Irish.
 

notletrest

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Thank the two eminent teachers for their reply!
 
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