INVERSIONS

INVERSION (verb before the subject)

INVERSION EXAMPLES

In normal everyday English, inversion is used :

To make questions : Does he?   Can you? After 'so' 'neither', 'nor' :  So do I, neither do I, nor do I. In written English, as well as in a very formal style, inversion can be used in the following cases :

When do we use inversion? Of course, we use inversion in questions. You can read more about thishere . But we also sometimes use inversion in other cases, when we are not making a question.

When does inversion happen?

The most common type of inversion is question word order (see above). Inversion also happens in other situations.

Negative adverbs

In formal styles, when we use an adverb with negative meaning (e.g. never, seldom, rarely, scarcely, hardly) in front position for emphasis, we invert the subject (s) and auxiliary (aux)/modal verb:

Never [AUX]have [S]we witnessed such cruel behaviour by one child to another. (or We have never witnessed …)

Seldom does one hear a politician say ‘sorry’. (or One seldom hears …)

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

Usually, we put the expression at the beginning of the sentence to emphasise what we're saying. It makes our sentence sound surprising or striking or unusual. It also sounds quite formal. If you don't want to give this impression, you can put the negative expression later in the sentence in the normal way:

• Seldom have I seen such beautiful work.
  ('Seldom' is at the beginning, so we use inversion. This sentence emphasizes what beautiful work it is.)
• I have seldom seen such beautiful work.
  ('Seldom' is in the normal place, so we don't use inversion. This is a normal sentence with no special emphasis.)

Here are some negative adverbs and adverb phrases that we often use with inversion:

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.

In the following expressions, 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.

We only use inversion when the adverb modifies the whole phrase and not when it modifies the noun: Hardly anyone passed the exam. (No inversion.)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.)

Expressions beginning with not

We also invert the subject and verb after not + a prepositional phrase or a clause in initial position:

Not for a moment did I think I would be offered the job, so I was amazed when I got it.

Not till I got home did I realise my wallet was missing.

Here and there

Inversion can happen after here, and after there when it is as an adverb of place. After here and there, we can use a main verb without an auxiliary verb or modal verb:

Here comes the bus!

Here’s your coffee.

I opened the door and there stood Michael, all covered in mud.

She looked out and there was Pamela, walking along arm in arm with Goldie.

 In written English, as well as in a very formal style, inversion can be used in the following cases :

• After negative adverbial expressions  :
  • Under no circumstances can we accept credit cards.
  • In no way can he be held responsible.
  • At no time did she say she would come.
  • Not until I heard my name did I believe I had won the race.
• After adverbial expressions of place :
  • Round the corner came the postman.
  • On the doorstep was a bunch of flowers.
• After 'seldom', 'rarely', 'never', and 'little' :
  • Seldom have I seen such a beautiful view.
  • Rarely did he pay anyone a compliment.
  • Never had I felt so happy.
  • Little did he imagine how dangerous it would be.
• After 'hardly', 'scarcely', 'no sooner', when one thing happens after another.
  • Hardly had I begun to speak when I was interrupted.
  • Scarcely had we started our meal when the phone rang.
  • No sooner had I arrived than they all started to argue.
• After adverbial expressions beginning with 'only' and 'not only' :
  • Only after the meeting did I realize the importance of the subject.
  • Only when the plane landed safely did he calm down.
  • Not only was the car slow, it was also very uncomfortable.
• Conditionals with inversions
  In conditional sentences we can sometimes replace the 'if' with an inversion:
  • Had I known it would be so difficult I would never have enrolled.
• After exclamations with 'here' and 'there' :
• Here comes the winner!
• There goes all our money!

Don't be caught out by longer questions that have the inversion in an initial phrase such as: "Could you tell me..." "Would you mind..." etc. If there is an inversion at the beginning like this, there won't be another inversion in the main part of the sentence. For example:

Would you be so kind as to tell me where the money is? (Not "...where is the money")

And don't be caught out by sentences used to make enquiries that are not really questions.

"I wonder if you could tell me when the next train to Houston is due." (Not "...when is the next train to Houston due")

2 Inversions with "so", "neither" and "nor"

When "so", "neither" and "nor" are used to make short agreements they are followed by an inversion.

"I am not into hip hop."
"Neither am I." (Or: "Nor am I.")

"I am fond of flamenco dancing."
"So am I."

Or they can be used in the following way (also including an inversion).

Jennifer buys only organic fruit and vegetables, and so does Hugh.
They don't mind the higher prices, and neither do we. (Or: ...nor do we.)

3 Inversions after negative adverbials

There are some words and phrases that function as adverbials that sometimes need an inversion. Look at these two sentences.

Bob rarely speaks to himself.
Rarely does Bob speak to himself.

The adverb here is "rarely". If it comes after the subject, there is no inversion (as in the first sentence), but if it comes before the subject, we need an inversion. The word order is inverted and in the case of the sentence about Bob we use the auxilliary verb "does" in the same way we do in questions (although this isn't a question).

The sentence with the inversion sounds more formal or more literary, and sentences like this are less common in ordinary conversation.

Here are some examples with other phrases used in the same way.

Seldom does Bob get invited to parties. (seldom = rarely)
Never have we seen such a breathtaking view.
At no time did the prisoner look as if he might confess.
Not only is she a great dancer but she is also an amazing mathematician.
Not until she took up rock climbing did she overcome her fear of heights.
Under no circumstances* will prisoners be allowed to give interviews to the media.
Little** did she realize that her grandmother was really a wolf.

* This is used to describe rules for which there are no exceptions. The alternative without the inversion is: Prisoners will not be allowed to give interviews to the media under any circumstances.

** This means that the girl didn't realize at all that her grandmother was really a wolf.

N.B. Remember that no inversion is possible if the adverbial doesn't come before the subject. Compare the following sentences with the corresponding sentences above.

She is not only a great dancer but she is also an amazing mathematician.
It was not until Effie left Brooklyn that she realized how attached she had become to the place.

The following three are used to describe an event that happened immediately after another.

Hardly had he stepped outside when it started to rain.
Scarcely had he stepped outside when it started to rain.
No sooner had he stepped outside than it started to rain.

Note that the past perfect tense is used to describe the event that happened first.

The following sentences with "only" include inversions. Note that it is not always the first verb that is inverted.

Only after he arrived at the airport did he look for his passport.
Only if you look through this dark glass will you be able to see the spots on the sun.
We accepted the invitation. Only later did we suspect it might be a trap.
Only by threatening extreme physical violence was the teacher able to control the class.

Note that there is no inversion when "only" is used in the following way.

Only Fiona knew the answer to the question.

3 Conditionals with inversions

In conditional (hypothetical) sentences we can sometimes drop "if" and use an inversion.

Should you see Nigel, give him my regards.
Were I in your shoes, I would make a formal complaint.
Had I known it was her birthday, I would have bought her a gift.

Note that "should", "were" and "had" are the only verbs that can be inverted in this way. (And "were" is also used with he, she and it.)

4 Inversions with "as"

Elisabeth was too shy to dance, as was Gerald.
She decided to leave early, as did Gerald.

In these sentences "as" indicates the similarity between two things.

5 Inversions with "so" and "such"

So excited were they that they couldn't sit still.
Such was their excitement that they began to jump up and down.

Note that "so" is followed by an adjective and "such" can be replaced by "so great" (So great was their excitement that...).

6 Inversions after adjectives

A few very literary sentences begin with an adjective and include an inversion.

Blessed are the children who are still unaware of what the future holds.
Gone* are the days when I could have been happy.

* Here the past participle is used like an adjective.

However there is no inversion in the following sentence.

Strange as it may seem, we were sorry to leave in the end.