Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[aisen]

Hi everyone,

I need some grammar help. Are the following two sentences grammatically correct?

Never did the rain come down.
Down came the rain.

I appreciate any help from native speakers.
Thank you in advance.

aisen

[lotus]

Hi aisen,

Try:

The rain never came down.
Down came the rain.

Here are some lyrics for context:

DON'T LET THE RAIN COME DOWN

(uh-oh) Don't Let the Rain Come Down
(uh-oh) No don't let the rain come down
(uh-oh) Don't Let the Rain Come Down
My roof's got a hole in it and I might drown
Oh yes my roof's got a hole in it and I might drown

ITSY WEENSY SPIDER

The itsy weensy spider went up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
and the itsy weensy spider went up the spout again


--lotus

[soon0608]

Never did the rain come down.
=> When the negative expression is placed in the first part of the sentence, the inversion happens.
ex)Never shall I forget your kindness.(correct)


Down came the rain.
=> when the directional adverb is place in the front of the sentence , subject and verb are inversed in the sentence.(in poetic expression/correct)

[aisen]

Hi soon0608,

Thank you very much explaining the grammar in detail, which helped me a lot.

[aisen]

Hi Lotus,

I'm not sure whether this is the right way to reply to your post. I'm not familiar with this type of forum.

Anyway, thank you so very much for helping me.
This lyric is familiar to me.