A practical english grammar - Vyssaja skola 1978
Negative words at the beginning of sentences
Sound symbols
Certain words of negation and exclusion can be put at the beginning of sentences rather than in their normal positions. This shift involves the inversion of the subject and verb. Often the object precedes the verb, too.
Not a word did he say.
Never had money seemed so important.
Not only was there no food; there was no water either.
Hardly (or Scarcely) had we reached the shelter when the storm broke.
Seldom have I met a better student.
Nowhere did he find any evidence of theft.
Little did they know that we were following close behind them.
We have seen the use of neither in constructions like “Neither am I.” There is a similar pattern with nor when a statement is offered as an addition to something that has just been said.
There was no food in the camp. Nor was there any water.
Participle phrases as sentence modifiers
Phrases based on present or past participles are fairly common in English as a means of showing the time sequence, cause, or other circumstance of a following predication.
Putting the check in my pocket, I started for the door.
Having put the check in my pocket, I started for the door.
(I put the check in my pocket, and then I started for the door.)
Thinking he was asleep, I walked on tiptoe. (Since I thought he was asleep, . . .)
Fanning himself with a newspaper, he walked back and forth. (He was fanning himself with a newspaper as he walked back and forth.)
The time sequence is sometimes made clearer by the use of a preposition before the ing-form.
Before saying anything, he cleared his throat.
In attempting to stop the fight, he injured his friend.
After turning out all the lights, we locked the door and left.
Upon opening the box, he observed that the lock had been tampered with.
When ing-forms (participles or gerunds) come at the beginning of the sentence, the subject of the principal verb is the logical subject of the ing-form. If the ing-form occurs later in the sentence, some other noun can be its logical subject.
Later on, they found the little boy happily eating an ice cream cone at the police station.
Present participles are sometimes joined very closely to the verb, so that they resemble adverbial modifiers, at least in meaning.
She was busy writing letters.
I spend most of my time answering questions, it seems.
I lay in bed reading.
When past participles are used at the beginning of the sentence, they always modify the subject.
Blown by the wind, the trees all lean toward the south.
Frightened at the sight of so many strange faces, the child burst into tears.