Inversion

We use inversion in several different situations in English. Inversion just means putting the verb
before the subject. We usually do it in question forms:

• Normal sentence: You are tired. (The subject is 'you'. It's before the verb 'are'.)
• Question form: Are you tired? (The verb 'are' is before the subject 'you'. They have changed
places. This is called 'inversion'.)

In most English verb tenses, when we want to use inversion, we just move the verb to before the
subject. If there's more than one verb, because a verb tense has auxiliary verbs for example, we move
the first verb.

There are two verb tenses where we just change the places of the verb and subject:

• Present simple with 'be': am I / are you / is he

• Past simple with 'be': were you / was she

With other verb tenses, we change the place of the subject and the auxiliary verb (the first auxiliary
verb if there is more than one). We don't move the other parts of the verb:

• Present continuous: am I going / are you going

• Past continuous: was he going / were they going
• Present perfect: have we gone / has she gone
• Present perfect continuous: has she been going / have they been going
• Past perfect: had you gone
• Past perfect continuous: had he been going
• Future simple: will they go
• Future continuous: will you be going
• Future perfect: will they have gone
• Future perfect continuous: will she have been going
• Modal verbs: should I go / would you go

There are two tenses where we need to add do / does / did to make the question form. This is usually
still called inversion.

• Present simple with any verb except 'be' (add 'do' or 'does'): do you go / does he go
• Past simple with any verb except 'be' (add 'did'): did we go / did they go

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When do we use inversion?

Of course, we use inversion in questions. But we also sometimes use inversion in other cases, when
we are not making a question.

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.)

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.)

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.

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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.

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.)

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 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.)

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 INVERSION: PRACTICE 2
EXERCISE 1
USING INVERSION, REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES BEGINNING WITH THE
WORDS GIVEN.

 You come to realise the significance of the murder only in the last few pages of the
book.
Only in the last __________________________________________________________

 The demands of her job are such that she is rarely able to take a holiday.
Such __________________________________________________________________

 The matter could be explained in no other way.

In ____________________________________________________________________

 I have seldom heard such beautiful singing.

Seldom ________________________________________________________________

 Peter didn't realize that he had lost his keys until he got home.
Not ___________________________________________________________________

 If Mr Chan had been kinder to his employees, his business would not have collapsed.
______________________________________________________________________

 If an emergency should arise, dial 999.

______________________________________________________________________

 There are no circumstances where audience members may consume alcohol.

Under no circumstances __________________________________________________

 They started to argue soon after they had got married.

No sooner _____________________________________________________________

 You can't use my new car at any time.

At no time _____________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 2
REWRITE THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES USING INVERSION.

1. The gang didn't know that the police had them under surveillance.
Little ____________________________________________________________
2. We won't consider you for the basketball team until you grow up.
Not until _________________________________________________________
3. Nobody has won so many matches for his team since 1994.
Not since ________________________________________________________
4. You will not be allowed to enter the auditorium under any circumstances once
the play has started.
Under no circumstances ____________________________________________
5. He would never play in front of a live audience again.
 GRAMMAR ADVANCED LEVEL
EOI REUS

Never ___________________________________________________________
6. Amy had not enjoyed herself so much since she went to the circus as a child.
Not since ________________________________________________________
7. I have never seen such a terrible performance of Hamlet before.
Never before _____________________________________________________
8. They only realized the painting had been hung upside down when someone
complained at reception.
Only when _______________________________________________________
9. I had been in the room for a few minutes when I realized that everyone was
staring at me.
Only after ________________________________________________________
10. He discovered that he had injured his knee when he tried to run.
Only when _______________________________________________________
11. The new park was hardly finished when vandals destroyed the flowerbeds.
Hardly __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________
12. You shouldn't sign a contract you haven't read thoroughly under any
circumstances.
Under no circumstances ____________________________________________
________________________________________________________________

EXERCISE 3
CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION TO COMPLETE THE SENTENCES.

1. _______________________ that I was speaking to someone as important as

Professor Sims.
a) Little have I known b) Little did I know
c) Little I knew d) I knew little

2. In no way ___________________ question his honesty, although I think that

he made some wrong decisions.
a) did I ever b) I ever did
c) had I ever d) I had ever

3. Hardly _____________________ we were told that it would soon be time for

lunch.
a) we had finished breakfast that b) had we finished breakfast that
c) had we finished breakfast when d) we had finished breakfast when

4. At no time before I accepted the job ___________________ that I would have

to do so much travelling around the country.
a) did they told b) I was told
c) I had been told d) was I told

5. Not since the 1960s _______________ attended an anti-war demonstration in

London.
a) so many people have
b) have so many people
c) did so many people have
d) had so many people had
 GRAMMAR ADVANCED LEVEL
EOI REUS

EXERCISE 4
COMPLETE USING THE WORDS IN BRACKETS WITH THE VERB IN THE CORRECT
FORM.
1. Not until the area is made safe _______________________________________
(construction/can continue).
2. In no way ____________________________________________________ (the
announcement/affect) how strongly we felt about the situation.
3. Seldom __________________________________________________ (you/see)
a vintage car in quite such good condition these days.
4. Not only __________________________________________ (Jerry/forget) my
birthday, but he also forgot our wedding anniversary.
5. At no time _________________________ (I/ask) my opinion on the subject.
6. Only when I checked the ticket again __________________________ (I/realise)
that I had won first prize!
7. Only if the weather is clear _________________________________ (the space
shuttle/will allow) to launch.
8. Such ____________________________ (the media interest/be) in the wedding
that there were over a dozen photographers.

EXERCISE 5
COMPLETE USING THE WORDS AND PHRASES IN THE BOX.

at no point  in no way  little  never  not  not only  no sooner

only after  scarcely  on no account  rarely  under no circumstances

1. __________________________ were the security guards to blame for what

happened.
2. __________________________ once did the old woman thank me for helping
her.
3. __________________________ seeing the doctor was Theresa allowed to
leave hospital.
4. __________________________ will passengers be allowed to carry more than
2 pieces of hand luggage.
5. __________________________ were they late to work, but they also forgot to
bring the reports.
6. __________________________ during the party did anyone mention that Peter
and Julie were getting married.
7. __________________________ had Alan arrived in Mexico when he was
arrested.
8. __________________________ did the passengers know that the driver was
really an undercover police officer.
9. __________________________ do you meet anyone as charming as Mr
Peterson.
10. __________________________ should unaccompanied children be allowed to
enter the pub.
11. __________________________ before has the company found itself facing
such stiff competition.
12. __________________________ had the alarm gone off than the police cars
arrived.