Inversion Language
Inversion language is often used to make our writing more emphatic and
dramatic, which is especially helpful with narrative writing.
For this, the word order is changed
- Negative adverbial
- Auxiliary verb
- Subject
Examples of time adverbials:
- Never (before)
- Rarely
- Seldom
- Barely
- Hardly (ever)
- Scarcely……. when/ before
- No sooner….. than
Only time expression
- Only when
- Only after
- Only by
- Only if
Negative expression
- Under no circumstances
- In no way
- Nowhere
- At no time (before)
- On no+ noun
- Neither……., nor
- No way
Expressions starting with not
- Not a + noun
- Not only….., but also
- Not until
- Not even
- Not for all+ noun
Little with negative meaning
Look at the following examples:
Never have I encountered such rudeness! (extract from a letter of
complaint about the service in a restaurant)
Not only is Amanda Swift a gifted musician, but she is also good-
natured and responsible. (extract from a covering letter)
No sooner had he locked the door than the phone started ringing.
Only when the last person had left did she sit down and try to relax.
Under no circumstances can you inform the staff about the imminent
changes.
Not a sound could be heard in the church.
Little does Michael suspect that his daughter has been failing all her
subjects at school!
Inversion of Conditional
We can also use inversion instead for the third conditional with had and then
should/ could/ Would.
If I had been there, this problem would not have happened.
Had I been there, this problem would not have happened.
If we had arrived sooner, we could have prevented this tragedy
Had we arrived sooner, we could have prevented this tragedy
Inversion of prepositions
We can move the prepositions to the start of the sentence.
All the money we had lost was on the table.
On the table was all the money that we had lost
Inversion with so+ adjective….. that
The food was so delicious that we ate every last bite.
So delicious was the food that we ate every last bite.
Exercise 1 – Fill in the gaps using the words below.
has · before · than · audience · then · was
started · will · can · did · so many · had
1. Hardly ever has/had an athlete won so many medals in such a short
time.
2. Little did we realize what a social faux-pas we had committed.
3. Scarcely had the match started when the trouble began.
4. Only by standing on my tip-toes was I able to see anything at all.
5. Seldom can an audience have heard a better interpretation of this
symphony.
6. Hardly had the controversial opera started when people began to
walk out.
7. Only if we leave now will we be in time to catch the train.
8. Never have I seen so many people turn out for this event.
9. Rarely can/could a remark have been more ill-judged.
10. Only then did it become clear what the extent of the damage was.
11. Barely had we had time to pack up the picnic things before the
heavens opened
12. No sooner had we asked for a quieter room, than we were given one.
Exercise 2 – Fill in the gaps using the words below.
else · way · did · circumstances · nothing · such
nor · until · would · account · only · even
1. At no time did he seem to realise what an idiot he was making of
himself.
2. At no time before have I heard such utter nonsense.
3. Nowhere else do they charge you so much for water
4. On no account should you miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
5. Under no circumstances must this door be left unlocked.
6. Not until she apologises for what she said will I speak to her again.
7. Not even if they halved the price would I buy such a heap of old
rubbish.
8. Not for all the money in the world would I do what you're
suggesting.
9. Not only do I know you're wrong, but I can also prove you're wrong.
10. Neither was the food up to standard nor was the service particularly
good.
11. Everyone except me got soaked. Not for nothing do I always carry
an umbrella.
12. No way am I going to jump into that icy cold water!
Exercise 3- Make inverted sentences from the sentences given, using
the words in brackets.
1. You shouldn’t tell him about my trip to China. (On no account)
On no account should you tell him about my trip to China.
2. You are not going to get me to eat that! (No way ….!)
No way are you going to get me to eat that!
3. I have seldom seen such a brilliant goal. (Seldom ….)
Seldom have I seen such a brilliant goal.
4. Such a hurricane has rarely happened in Hereford (Hardly ever …)
Hardly ever has such a hurricane happened in Hereford.
5. I wouldn’t want to hurt your feelings for all the world. (Not …)
Not for all the world would I want to hurt your feelings.
6. They were never aware of the danger that threatened them.
(At no time …)
At no time were they aware of the danger that threatened them.
7. This must not leak out to the press. (Under …)
Under no circumstances must this leak out to the press.
8. He wasn’t rich and he wasn’t handsome. (Neither …)
Neither was he rich, nor was he handsome.
9. We haven’t often witnessed such artistry. (Rarely …)
Rarely have we witnessed such artistry.
10. The bridge collapsed as soon as we managed to get across.
No sooner …)
No sooner had we managed to get across (no sooner + event 1), did
the bridge collapse.
11. We were only able to cross the border by offering him a bribe.
(only …)
Only by offering him a bribe were we able to cross the border.
12. Immediately he opened his mouth he started complaining about
everything. (Barely … before …)
Barely had he opened his mouth (event 1 – past perfect) before he
started complaining about everything (past simple- event 2).
Exercise 4- Create 5 inverted sentences describing the semester so
far.
1. No way am I going to fail that subject.
2. Never have I seen a score higher than 95%.
3. Nowhere else do they teach you this good, not even in your high
school.
4. Under no circumstances must I forget to study for finals.
5. Barely had we had classes on weekends.
