don't I receive

Thanks, Amy.

Yoong Liat

- Not only do I not receive any compliments, I constantly get criticised.
- Not only don't I receive any compliments, I constantly get criticised.

After pondering over the sentences, I feel that the short form ( don't ) cannot be used in a sentence in which inversion.is required.

And I think that is the cause for N2grammar's being still confused.

I hope some member will comment on what I've written so that N2G and I are clear as to what the correct usage should be.

Best wishes.

Hi Avangi

This goes off in a slightly different direction since it leaves the "Not only" aspect out of the discussion.

To me, "do not I" would sound rather biblical (or so sayeth the Lord).
On the other hand, the contraction "don't I" is in common use.  However, when "don't I" is written out in uncontracted form, the standard is "do I not".

Avangi

I couldn't find it, but came across lots of third person examples, like "Does not a doubling of oil prices need a fitting response?"  

Would you feel comfortable using a pronoun that way?  In other words, would you be willing to change "a doubling of oil prices" to the word "it" and then say this:
"Does not it need a fitting response?"

Would you say or write any of these?
Do not you
Does not he/she
Do not we
Do not they

Those would sound poetic to me.  Possibly a highly stylized usage.

Yankee

, would you be willing to change "a doubling of oil prices" to the word "it" and then say this:
"Does not it need a fitting response?"

Thanks, Yankee.  I've seen this technique used elsewhere in the forums, and have noticed that it works very effectively.  It just hasn't yet found its way into my subconscious.  (Poetry is okay, though.  Right?   [reply]  But it's not what we do here.)

  - A.