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Difficulty: Very hardConjunctions and Clause Structure

Complete the sentence below by filling in the blank with the word that correctly satisfies the rules of clause structure and inversion.

Answer:Not until the anti-graft agency completed its preliminary investigation 【did】 the board suspend the managing director.

Answer

The correct word to complete the clause structure is 'did'.
When a sentence begins with the negative conjunction phrase 'Not until', the subordinate clause ('the anti-graft agency completed its preliminary investigation') must be followed immediately by an inverted main clause. Inversion requires an auxiliary verb before the subject 'the board'. Because the main verb 'suspend' appears in the uninflected base form and the context is past narrative, the past tense dummy auxiliary 'did' must be inserted to form 'did the board suspend'.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the sentence structure and identify the conjunction phrase.
The sentence begins with the negative restrictive conjunction phrase 'Not until', which introduces a subordinate temporal clause ('the anti-graft agency completed its preliminary investigation').
Recognizing negative fronted conjunctions is essential because they alter standard main clause word order.
2
Determine the grammatical rule governing main clauses following initial negative conjunctions.
When a sentence starts with a negative or restrictive conjunctional expression such as 'Not until', the main clause must undergo subject-auxiliary inversion (Auxiliary + Subject + Verb).
Standard subject-verb order (Subject + Verb) is ungrammatical following fronted negative clause connectors.
3
Examine the main clause verb form to select the appropriate auxiliary verb.
The main verb 'suspend' is in its bare infinitive form, and the action occurred in the past (aligned with 'completed'). Therefore, the past tense auxiliary verb 'did' is required.
'did' completes the inverted structure 'did the board suspend', maintaining proper tense harmony and clause syntax.

Key Concept

Subject-Auxiliary Inversion after Fronted Negative Subordinate Clauses
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Topics

Conjunctions and Clause Structure

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