INVERSION

WeuseinversioninseveraldifferentsituationsinEnglish.Inversionjustmeansputtingtheverbbeforethesubject.Weusuallydo
itinquestionforms:

Normalsentence:Youaretired.(Thesubjectis'you'.It'sbeforetheverb'are'.)
Questionform:Areyoutired?(Theverb'are'isbeforethesubject'you'.Theyhavechangedplaces.Thisiscalled
inversion.)

InmostEnglishverbtenses,whenwewanttouseinversion,wejustmovetheverbtobeforethesubject.Ifthere'smorethanone
verb,becauseaverbtensehasauxiliaryverbsforexample,wemovethefirstverb.
Withtwoverbtenseswherewejustchangetheplacesoftheverbandsubject:
Presentsimplewith'be':amI/areyou/ishe
Pastsimplewith'be':wereyou/wasshe
Withotherverbstenses,wechangetheplaceofthesubjectandtheauxiliaryverb(thefirstauxiliaryverbifthereismorethan
one).Wedon'tmovetheotherpartsoftheverb:
Presentcontinuous:amIgoing/areyougoing
Pastcontinuous:washegoing/weretheygoing
Presentperfect:havewegone/hasshegone
Presentperfectcontinuous:hasshebeengoing/havetheybeengoing
Pastperfect:hadyougone
Pastperfectcontinuous:hadhebeengoing
Futuresimple:willtheygo
Futurecontinuous:willyoubegoing
Futureperfect:willtheyhavegone
Futureperfectcontinuous:willshehavebeengoing
Modalverbs:shouldIgo/wouldyougo
Therearetwotenseswhereweneedtoadd'do/does/did'tomakethequestionform.Wealsoneedtochangethemainverbback
totheinfinitive.Thisisusuallystillcalledinversion.
Presentsimplewithanyverbexcept'be'(add'do'or'does'):doyougo/doeshego
Pastsimplewithanyverbexcept'be'(add'did'):didwego/didtheygo
Whendoweuseinversion?Ofcourse,weuseinversioninquestions.Butwealsosometimesuseinversioninothercases,when
wearenotmakingaquestion.
1:Whenweuseanegativeadverboradverbphraseatthebeginningofthesentence.
Usually,weputtheexpressionatthebeginningofthesentencetoemphasizewhatwe'resaying.Itmakesoursentencesound
surprisingorstrikingorunusual.Italsosoundsquiteformal.Ifyoudon'twanttogivethisimpression,youcanputthenegative
expressionlaterinthesentenceinthenormalway:
SeldomhaveIseensuchbeautifulwork.
('Seldom'isatthebeginning,soweuseinversion.Thissentenceemphasizeswhatbeautifulworkitis.)
Ihaveseldomseensuchbeautifulwork.
('Seldom'isinthenormalplace,sowedon'tuseinversion.Thisisanormalsentencewithnospecialemphasis.)
Herearesomenegativeadverbsandadverbphrasesthatweoftenusewithinversion:
Hardly

HardlyhadIgotintobedwhenthetelephonerang.

Never

Neverhadsheseensuchabeautifulsightbefore.

Seldom

Seldomdoweseesuchanamazingdisplayofdance.

Rarely

Rarelywillyouhearsuchbeautifulmusic.

Onlythen

OnlythendidIunderstandwhythetragedyhadhappened.

Notonly...but

Notonlydoeshelovechocolateandsweetsbuthealsosmokes.

Nosooner

Nosoonerhadwearrivedhomethanthepolicerangthedoorbell.

Scarcely

ScarcelyhadIgotoffthebuswhenitcrashedintothebackofacar.

Onlylater

Onlylaterdidshereallythinkaboutthesituation.

Nowhere

NowherehaveIeverhadsuchbadservice.

Little

Littledidheknow!

Onlyinthisway

OnlyinthiswaycouldJohnearnenoughmoneytosurvive.

Innoway

InnowaydoIagreewithwhatyou'resaying.

Onnoaccount

Onnoaccountshouldyoudoanythingwithoutaskingmefirst.

Inthefollowingexpressions,theinversioncomesinthesecondpartofthesentence:
Notuntil NotuntilIsawJohnwithmyowneyesdidIreallybelievehewassafe.
Notsince NotsinceLucyleftcollegehadshehadsuchawonderfultime.
Onlyafter OnlyafterI'dseenherflatdidIunderstandwhyshewantedtolivethere.
Onlywhen Onlywhenwe'dallarrivedhomedidIfeelcalm.
Onlyby
Onlybyworkingextremelyhardcouldweaffordtoeat.
Weonlyuseinversionwhentheadverbmodifiesthewholephraseandnotwhenitmodifiesthenoun:Hardlyanyonepassedthe
exam.(Noinversion.)

Inversion
WeuseinversioninseveraldifferentsituationsinEnglish.Inversionjustmeansputtingtheverbbeforethesubject.Weusuallydo
itinquestionforms:

Normalsentence:Youaretired.(Thesubjectis'you'.It'sbeforetheverb'are'.)
Questionform:Areyoutired?(Theverb'are'isbeforethesubject'you'.Theyhavechangedplaces.Thisiscalled
inversion.)

InmostEnglishverbtenses,whenwewanttouseinversion,wejustmovetheverbtobeforethesubject.Ifthere'smorethanone
verb,becauseaverbtensehasauxiliaryverbsforexample,wemovethefirstverb.
Withtwoverbtenseswherewejustchangetheplacesoftheverbandsubject:
Presentsimplewith'be':amI/areyou/ishe
Pastsimplewith'be':wereyou/wasshe
Withotherverbstenses,wechangetheplaceofthesubjectandtheauxiliaryverb(thefirstauxiliaryverbifthereismorethan
one).Wedon'tmovetheotherpartsoftheverb:
Presentcontinuous:amIgoing/areyougoing
Pastcontinuous:washegoing/weretheygoing
Presentperfect:havewegone/hasshegone
Presentperfectcontinuous:hasshebeengoing/havetheybeengoing
Pastperfect:hadyougone
Pastperfectcontinuous:hadhebeengoing
Futuresimple:willtheygo
Futurecontinuous:willyoubegoing
Futureperfect:willtheyhavegone
Futureperfectcontinuous:willshehavebeengoing
Modalverbs:shouldIgo/wouldyougo
Therearetwotenseswhereweneedtoadd'do/does/did'tomakethequestionform.Wealsoneedtochangethemainverb
backtotheinfinitive.Thisisusuallystillcalledinversion.
Presentsimplewithanyverbexcept'be'(add'do'or'does'):doyougo/doeshego
Pastsimplewithanyverbexcept'be'(add'did'):didwego/didtheygo
Whendoweuseinversion?Ofcourse,weuseinversioninquestions.Butwealsosometimesuseinversioninothercases,when
wearenotmakingaquestion.
1:Whenweuseanegativeadverboradverbphraseatthebeginningofthesentence.

Usually,weputtheexpressionatthebeginningofthesentencetoemphasizewhatwe'resaying.Itmakesoursentencesound
surprisingorstrikingorunusual.Italsosoundsquiteformal.Ifyoudon'twanttogivethisimpression,youcanputthenegative
expressionlaterinthesentenceinthenormalway:
SeldomhaveIseensuchbeautifulwork.
('Seldom'isatthebeginning,soweuseinversion.Thissentenceemphasizeswhatbeautifulworkitis.)
Ihaveseldomseensuchbeautifulwork.
('Seldom'isinthenormalplace,sowedon'tuseinversion.Thisisanormalsentencewithnospecialemphasis.)
Herearesomenegativeadverbsandadverbphrasesthatweoftenusewithinversion:
Hardly

HardlyhadIgotintobedwhenthetelephonerang.

Never

Neverhadsheseensuchabeautifulsightbefore.

Seldom

Seldomdoweseesuchanamazingdisplayofdance.

Rarely

Rarelywillyouhearsuchbeautifulmusic.

Onlythen

OnlythendidIunderstandwhythetragedyhadhappened.

Notonly...but

Notonlydoeshelovechocolateandsweetsbuthealsosmokes.

Nosooner

Nosoonerhadwearrivedhomethanthepolicerangthedoorbell.

Scarcely

ScarcelyhadIgotoffthebuswhenitcrashedintothebackofacar.

Onlylater

Onlylaterdidshereallythinkaboutthesituation.

Nowhere

NowherehaveIeverhadsuchbadservice.

Little

Littledidheknow!

Onlyinthisway

OnlyinthiswaycouldJohnearnenoughmoneytosurvive.

Innoway

InnowaydoIagreewithwhatyou'resaying.

Onnoaccount

Onnoaccountshouldyoudoanythingwithoutaskingmefirst.

Inthefollowingexpressions,theinversioncomesinthesecondpartofthesentence:
Notuntil
NotuntilIsawJohnwithmyowneyesdidIreallybelievehewassafe.
Notsince
NotsinceLucyleftcollegehadshehadsuchawonderfultime.
Onlyafter
OnlyafterI'dseenherflatdidIunderstandwhyshewantedtolivethere.
Onlywhen
Onlywhenwe'dallarrivedhomedidIfeelcalm.
Onlyby
Onlybyworkingextremelyhardcouldweaffordtoeat.
Weonlyuseinversionwhentheadverbmodifiesthewholephraseandnotwhenitmodifiesthenoun:Hardlyanyonepassedthe
exam.(Noinversion.)
2:Wecanuseinversioninsteadof'if'inconditionalswith'had''were'and'should'.Thisisquiteformal:
Normalconditional:IfIhadbeenthere,thisproblemwouldn'thavehappened.
Conditionalwithinversion:HadIbeenthere,thisproblemwouldn'thavehappened.
Normalconditional:Ifwehadarrivedsooner,wecouldhavepreventedthistragedy!
Conditionalwithinversion:Hadwearrivedsooner,wecouldhavepreventedthistragedy!
3:Wecanuseinversionifweputanadverbialexpressionofplaceatthebeginningonthesentence.Thisisalsoquite
formalorliterary:
Onthetablewasallthemoneywehadlost.(Normalsentence:Allthemoneywehadlostwasonthetable.)
Roundthecornercametheknights.(Normalsentence:Theknightscameroundthecorner.)
4:Wecanuseinversionafter'so+adjective...that':
Sobeautifulwasthegirlthatnobodycouldtalkofanythingelse.(Normalsentence:thegirlwassobeautifulthatnobody
couldtalkofanythingelse.)
Sodeliciouswasthefoodthatweateeverylastbite.(Normalsentence:thefoodwassodeliciousthatweateeverylast
bite.)

Exercise:
Changethenormalsentenceintoonewithinversion.Forexample:"WehadhardlyarrivedwhenJulieburstintothe
house"becomes"HardlyhadwearrivedwhenJulieburstintothehouse".

1)
2)
3)
4)

Johnhadneverbeentosuchafantasticrestaurant
I in no way want to be associated with this project
They had no sooner eaten dinner than the ceiling crashed onto the dining table
I had scarcely finished writing my essay when the examiner announced the end of the

exam
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

Key:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Never had John been to such a fantastic restaurant.

In no way do I want to be associated with this project
Nosoonerhadtheyeatendinnerthantheceilingcrashedontothediningtable

Scarcely had I finished writing my essay when the examiner announced the
end of the exam
5. Seldom do I leave my house so early
6. Rarely do people appreciate this musicians talent
7. Only later would we understand what had happened that night
8. Nowhere had they met such rude people before
9. Little did he understand about the situation
10. On no account should the children go on their own