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Certain words are often used in a fixed combination. As an example consider the phrase - 'hardly......when' as used in the sentence - "Hardly had I entered the room when the light went out." For clarity consider another example - "No sooner did the teacher go out than the pupils started playing."

What should be the combination for -
1) Rarely...
2) Never before...

Also, can anyone provide me any links where I can find more of such combinations?

Suy
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    These are all Negative constructions, and negatives always have strange grammar, often retaining fixed phrases with archaic syntax, while also arising naturally in slang and new constructions. Sort of a "Poet's Corner" in the language. – John Lawler Oct 14 '13 at 18:23
  • What Prof Lawler has explained has been covered before, several times in fact, a couple times by none other than himself. See the question this has been closed as a duplicate of, and follow the trail of related questions linked from there if you wish. Other than the inversion, there is nothing the examples you provided require, i.e. there is no word that must appear later on in a sentence starting with "Rarely...". – RegDwigнt Oct 14 '13 at 18:33

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