Inversions

We use inversion in several different situations in English.
Inversion just means putting the verb before the subject.
1: When we use a negative adverb or adverb phrase at the beginning of

the sentence.
Hardly - Hardly had I got into bed when the telephone rang.
Never - Never had she seen such a beautiful sight before.
Seldom - Seldom do we see such an amazing display of dance.
Rarely - Rarely will you hear such beautiful music.
Only then - Only then did I understand why the tragedy had happened.
Not only ... but - Not only does he love chocolate and sweets but he also smokes.
No sooner - No sooner had we arrived home than the police rang the doorbell.
Scarcely - Scarcely had I got off the bus when it crashed into the back of a car.
Only later - Only later did she really think about the situation.
Nowhere - Nowhere have I ever had such bad service.
Little - Little did he know!
Only in this way - Only in this way could John earn enough money to survive.
In no way - In no way do I agree with what you're saying.
On no account - On no account should you do anything without asking me first.
The inversion comes in the second part of the sentence:
Not until - Not until I saw John with my own eyes did I really believe he was safe.
Not since - Not since Lucy left college had she had such a wonderful time.
Only after - Only after I'd seen her flat did I understand why she wanted to live there.
Only when - Only when we'd all arrived home did I feel calm.
Only by - Only by working extremely hard could we afford to eat.

2: We can use inversion instead of 'if' in conditionals with 'had' 'were'
and 'should'. This is quite formal:
Normal conditional: If I had been there, this problem wouldn't have happened.
Conditional with inversion: Had I been there, this problem wouldn't have happened.
Normal conditional: If we had arrived sooner, we could have prevented this tragedy!
Conditional with inversion: Had we arrived sooner, we could have prevented this
tragedy!
3: We can use inversion if we put an adverbial expression of place at

the beginning on the sentence. This is also quite formal or literary:
On the table was all the money we had lost.
(Normal sentence: All the money we had lost was on the table.)
Round the corner came the knights.
(Normal sentence: The knights came round the corner.)
4: We can use inversion after 'so + adjective...that':
So beautiful was the girl that nobody could talk of anything else.
(Normal sentence: the girl was so beautiful that nobody could talk of anything else.)
So delicious was the food that we ate every last bite.
(Normal sentence: the food was so delicious that we ate every last bite.)
HOMEWORK
Inversion
Change the normal sentence into one with inversion. For example: "We had
hardly arrived when Julie burst into the house" becomes "Hardly had we
arrived when Julie burst into the house".
1) John had never been to such a fantastic restaurant
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2) I in no way want to be associated with this project
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3) They had no sooner eaten dinner than the ceiling crashed onto the dining table
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4) I had scarcely finished writing my essay when the examiner announced the end of the
exam.
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5) I seldom leave my house so early.

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6) People rarely appreciate this musicians talent.

_____________________________________________________________________
7) We would understand what had happened that night only later

_____________________________________________________________________
8) They had met such rude people nowhere before.

_____________________________________________________________________
9) He understood little about the situation.

_____________________________________________________________________
10) The children should on no account go on their own.

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Inversions

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Inversions

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We use inversion in several different situations in English.

Inversion just means putting the verb before the subject.

1: When we use a negative adverb or adverb phrase at the beginning of

The inversion comes in the second part of the sentence:

Only by - Only by working extremely hard could we afford to eat.

3: We can use inversion if we put an adverbial expression of place at

On the table was all the money we had lost.

Round the corner came the knights.

(Normal sentence: The knights came round the corner.)

4: We can use inversion after 'so + adjective...that':

So delicious was the food that we ate every last bite.

1) John had never been to such a fantastic restaurant

2) I in no way want to be associated with this project

5) I seldom leave my house so early.

6) People rarely appreciate this musicians talent.

7) We would understand what had happened that night only later

8) They had met such rude people nowhere before.

9) He understood little about the situation.

10) The children should on no account go on their own.

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