INVERSIONS

INVERSIONS

The normal order in an English sentence is:Subject/ verb/ complement The man bought some flowers for his wife. However, in certain situations we change the word order: we invert the subject and the verb to express emphasis, for dramatic purposes or formality.

When? After certain negative adverbs such as Never, seldom, rarely, I have never heard such rubbish! Never have I heard such rubbish! You seldom meet a man of such integrity! Seldom do you meet a man of such integrity! hardly + past perfect + than/when Hardly had I got into bed when the telephone rang.

With expressions only after, only by, only if, only whenNot until + verb phrase, When these expressions come at the beginning of a sentence, the inversion is in the main clause. Only after she started working was she able to become independent.Only if you follow my advice will you be able to give up smoking. Only by bribing the police officer was she able to get away. Only when I took the test did I realise how little I knew! Not until I got home did I realise how lucky I'd been.

Thank you!