Inverted sentences

1. Inversion
Cansu SÜER

2. Inversion
• Inversion happens when we
reverse (invert) the normal
word order of a structure,
most commonly the
subject-verb word order.

3. • Negative Adverbs
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/if
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.

4. • Negative Adverbs
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.

5. Negative Adverbs
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.
• In the following expressions, the inversion comes in the
second part of the sentence:

6. Instead of 'if' in conditionals with
'had' 'were' and 'should'.
* This is quite formal.
- Had I been there, this
problem wouldn't have
happened.
- Had we arrived sooner, we
could have prevented this
tragedy!

7. Instead of 'if' in conditionals with
'had' 'were' and 'should'.
* This is quite formal.
- Were Trump to get elected,
we’d all be surprised.
- Should Batman not come,
we’re in big trouble. But
don’t worry, he always
comes.

8. 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.)

9. 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.)

10. Never
• Warning:
• We don’t use not … ever at
the beginning of a statement
(in front position):
• Never had they seen so many
strangers in their village all at
the same time.
• Not: Not ever had they seen
so many strangers …

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Preposition of Place
• With intrasitive verbs like sit, come,
go, lie, stand, walk.
- Down the street walked the gunman.
- On the other side of the river stood a
small cottage.
- Under a tree was lying an old man.
- On the grass sat an enormous frog.
- Directly in front of us stood a
beautiful church.

14. As, than and so
• She was very religious, as were
most of her friends.
• People living in cities have a
higher death rate than do
country people.
• So difficult was the exam that
few of the students passed it.

15. Example Questions
• ______ can you get permission
for what you intend to do.
a) Suppose
b) At no time
c) For fear that
d) How
e) Such

16. Example Questions
• ______ can you get permission
for what you intend to do.
a) Suppose
b) At no time
c) For fear that
d) How
e) Such
Cevap B

17. Example Questions
• I have seldom eaten at such an
expensive restaturant, and
______ have most of my friends.
a) too
b) neither
c) either
d) so
e) hardly

18. Example Questions
• I have seldom eaten at such an
expensive restaturant, and
______ have most of my friends.
a) too
b) neither
c) either
d) so
e) Hardly
Cevap B

19. Example Questions
• _________Michael Jordan had
played before him did the coach
realized how gifted he was.
a) Not until
b) So
c) Such
d) Little
e) Too many

20. Example Questions
• _________Michael Jordan had
played before him did the coach
realized how gifted he was.
a) Not until
b) So
c) Such
d) Little
e) Too many
Cevap A

21. Example Questions
• Only by chance ______ those
who were cheating in the exam.
a) the teacher was able to discover
b) had discovered
c) could discover
d) was discovered
e) had the teacher discovered

22. Example Questions
• Only by chance ______ those
who were cheating in the exam.
a) the teacher was able to discover
b) had discovered
c) could discover
d) was discovered
e) had the teacher discovered
Cevap E

23. Example Questions
• ______ do the customers
complain about the service in
the restaurant.
a) In no way
b) Such
c) No sooner
d) Much as
e) Nor

24. Example Questions
• ______ do the customers
complain about the service in the
restaurant.
a) In no way
b) Such
c) No sooner
d) Much as
e) Nor
Cevap A

25. Example Questions
• ______ has my secretary made
such mistakes.
a) So
b) Like
c) Seldom
d) Though
e) Neither

26. Example Questions
• ______ has my secretary made
such mistakes.
a) So
b) Like
c) Seldom
d) Though
e) Neither
Cevap C