The rainy season

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	Abil  #551579  Wed, 06 Aug 08 01:08 PM The rainy season is almost drawing to a close, yet there has been not much rain. This means that hundreds of thousands of acres of lands will have to be left uncultivated, food production will decrease and food prices will go up. Are there any mistakes and room for improvement?    Abil Joined on Wed, Jun 11 2008 Regular Member (763)
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	optilang  #551588  Wed, 06 Aug 08 01:17 PM The rainy season is almost drawing to a close, yet there has not been not (that) much rain. This means that hundreds of thousands of acres of lands will (have to) be left uncultivated, food production will decrease and food prices will go up.    optilang Joined on Tue, May 13 2008 Poland Senior Member (2,234) OptiNative British English Speaker Wherever I may roam, I'm still a Londoner.

	Abil  #551592  Wed, 06 Aug 08 01:24 PM Thanks Optilang. But may I ask is "has been not much" completely woring? Or, you have made the changes for the sake of style?    Abil

	Grammar Geek  #551597  Wed, 06 Aug 08 01:34 PM I don't know if it's style or a hard grammatical fact, but no native would say "there has been not much rain." The "not" needs to go right before "been."    Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Pennsylvania, USA Veteran Member (16,070) Barbara, who answers in American English.

	Huevos  #551605  Wed, 06 Aug 08 02:20 PM   Abil The rainy season is almost drawing to a close I would say "The rainy season has almost drawn to close, yet there has been little rain". Grammar Geek no native would say "there has been not much rain." The "not" needs to go right before "been." I think that about the closest that a native would say while still maintaining that order would be something like "there has been but little rain".    Huevos Joined on Tue, Mar 25 2008 Spain Regular Member (556) British Native
Grammar

	Abil  #551691  Wed, 06 Aug 08 05:08 PM "The "not" needs to go right before "been." says Grammar Geek. My question is: is it a hard and fast rule? I ask it because a google book search for "there has been not much" has  produced 306 hits. Thanks    Abil
Grammar

	optilang  #551701  Wed, 06 Aug 08 05:24 PM Like GG I don't know about a hard and fast rule. It is possible to say 'there has been not much ..' but I would put not before been. I would say: There hasn't been much interest  -  not  - there has been not much interest.    optilang

	Huevos  #551702  Wed, 06 Aug 08 05:28 PM Abil My question is: is it a hard and fast rule? You're not going to find it in literature. there has not been much there has been not much     Huevos
Literature

	Huevos  #551707  Wed, 06 Aug 08 05:48 PM Abil My question is: is it a hard and fast rule? What do you think about the inversions Much rain there has not been. Not much rain there has been.     Huevos