English term
inversion or not after \"nor\"
I wonder which of the following sentences is correct
I am not a robot and ***nor do you*** expect an automated reply.
I am not a robot and ***nor you do*** expect an automated reply.
Thanks a lot for you help.
Agnès
| 4 +5 | with inversion |
Yvonne Gallagher
|
| 4 | First is awkward - second is wrong |
B D Finch
|
| 4 -1 | Yes to inversion |
Tina Vonhof (X)
|
| 4 -1 | none |
José J. Martínez
|
Sep 13, 2018 09:00: B D Finch changed "Level" from "PRO" to "Non-PRO"
Non-PRO (3): Tony M, philgoddard, B D Finch
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Responses
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
with inversion
I am not a robot and ***nor do you*** expect an automated reply.
you=I?
I > you?
Is the verb right? should it be "should" > nor should you/I?
Any more context?
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Note added at 1 day 16 hrs (2018-09-14 08:55:32 GMT) Post-grading
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glad to have helped
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Note added at 1 day 16 hrs (2018-09-14 08:56:49 GMT) Post-grading
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Yes, I think it's probably a captcha. That's why I queried the pronouns as "I" and "you" in the same phrase look weird. It looks like a bad translation.
Nor is followed by inversion but it could also be dropped completely . The phrase could be written more simply as e.g.
I am not a robot, and this is not an automated reply
I am not a robot and no automated reply should be expected (if you want to keep "expected")
but "nor you do" is completely wrong.
| agree |
philgoddard
: It could be "do" or "should", but I agree that we don't have enough context
11 mins
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Thanks:-) really need more context to see what fits best though
|
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| agree |
Shekhar Banerjee
: It flows well after all!
16 mins
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Thanks:-)
|
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| agree |
Jack Doughty
4 hrs
|
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Thanks:-)
|
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| agree |
Tony M
4 hrs
|
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Thanks:-)
|
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| agree |
atieh allahyari
12 hrs
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Thanks:-)
|
Yes to inversion
I think 'neither' sound better and the two verbs should match.
| disagree |
Tony M
: Except that's not actually what the sentence is saying: "I am not a robot" + "you do not expect..."
4 hrs
|
United States
ENSP, More than 30 years experience
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
, Spanish (Variant: Latin American)
Works in: English to Spanish, Spanish to English
none
| disagree |
Tony M
: That completely changes what is obviously the intended meaning: "I am not a robot" + "you do not expect..."
4 hrs
|
First is awkward - second is wrong
Suggestions:
I am not a robot and you do not expect an automated reply.
OR
I am not a robot, nor do you expect an automated reply.
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Note added at 16 hrs (2018-09-13 09:18:08 GMT)
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"You do expect" is emphatically positive, so it cannot be prefaced by the negative "nor".
Discussion
Yes, I think it's probably a captcha. That's why I queried the pronouns as "I" and "you" in the same phrase look weird. It looks like a bad translation.
Nor is followed by inversion but it could also be dropped completely . The phrase could be written more simply as e.g.
I am not a robot, and this is not an automated reply
I am not a robot and no automated reply should be expected (if you want to keep "expected")
but "nor you do" is completely wrong.
Or an allusion to it?
I am not a robot, and nor is this an automated reply
-- sounds a bit heavy, but inversion is required.
Apparently most self-respecting robots can crack the old captchas these days anyway - it's the humans who have trouble with them... including me!
The sentence as it stands is grammatically flawed: the structure with "I am not and nor..." should continue with 'are you / is she' etc. — you can't suddenly change verb like this in mid expression!
I think what you are trying to say is "I am not a robot, and by the same token, you are not expecting a robotic answer" — which, although awkward, is at least not grammatically wrong.