Inversion and Emphasis

I/ Negative Adverbs + Verb + Subject

1) She had never seen such an impressive
live performance.
Never had she seen such an impressive
live performance.
2) Never had we heard such a fascinating
story.
3) Rarely will I eat chocolate during the
week.
4) Under no circumstances should you
leave your children unsupervised.
Other Negative adverbs: rarely, not
since, hardly, never before, not until,
little, at no time , under no
circumstances, not only, no sooner, in no
way,
I have played little tennis since I was a
child
Little have I played tennis since I was a
child
He had hardly taken a seat when he
started to talk
Hardly had he taken a seat when he
started to talk
Fruit and vegetables are not only good
for your health, but they are also
extremely delicious
Not only are fruit and vegetables good
for your health, but they are also
extremely delicious
The cyclist was in no way held
responsible for the recent accident
In no way was the cyclist held
responsible for the recent accident
Notes:: Hardly anyone passed the exam./
Hardly a day goes by without my writing
to her. (No inversion.)
 Hardly had I got into bed
Hardly
when the telephone rang.
Never had she seen such
Never
a beautiful sight before.
Seldom do we see such
Seldom an amazing display of
dance.
Rarely will you hear such
Rarely
beautiful music.
Not only ... but
Not only does he love
also
chocolate and sweets but
Not only…
he also smokes.
but…as well
No sooner…
than No sooner had we arrived
Scarcely… home than the police rang
when… the doorbell.
Hardly…. Hardly had I closed my
when… eyes when I heard a
Barely …. knock on the door.
when …
 Nowhere have I ever had
Nowhere
such bad service.
Little Little did he know!
In no way do I agree with
In no way
what you're saying.
On no account should
On no account you do anything without
asking me first.
In the following expressions, the
inversion comes in the second part of the
sentence:
Not until I saw John with my
Not until own eyes did I really believe
he was safe.
Not since Lucy left college had
Not since
she had such a wonderful time.
II/ Only+ Clause + V+S
Adv/
phrase/

Only after I'd seen her flat did I

understand why she wanted to
Only after live there.
Only when we'd all arrived
Only when
home did I feel calm.
Only by working extremely
Only by
hard could we afford to eat.
Only then did I understand
Only then
why the tragedy had happened.
Only later did she really think
Only later
about the situation.
Only in Only in this way could John
this way earn enough money to survive.

→We are beginning to realize how great

a man he is only now.
Only now are we beginning........
→They fully understood what he had
meant only then.
Only then did they fully understand....
→ We can hope to succeed only with the
full agreement of everyone.
Only with the full agreement of everyone
can we hope...
→ The workers decided to go on strike
only when all attempts at negotiation had
failed.
Only when all attempts at negotiation
had failed did the workers decide to...

III/ so + adjective/adverb+ V + that…/

such+ be+ N+ 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.)
 Such is her beauty that everyone sets
his eye on her. ( She is so beautiful
that everyone sets his eyes on her.)
  Such is his talent that he has won a lot
of contests. ( He is so talented that
he… contests.)
IV/ We can use inversion if we put an
adverbs of place at the beginning of the
sentence. Adverbs of place+ intransitive
Verb / BE + S (noun)
 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.)
 His faithful dog sat by his side.→ By his
side sat his faithful dog.
 The Lake of Restored Sword lies in the
heart of Hanoi. → In the heart of Hanoi
lies the Lake of Restored Sword.
 An old ruined building was near the
church.→ Near the church was an old
ruined building.
  A monument stands in front of the
museum.→In front of the museum stands
a monument.
 But: In front of the museum I found a
gold ring.
V/ IN/OUT/UP/DOWN/OFF+
Intransitive Verb +S (noun):
● A balloon rose up.→ Up rose the
balloon.
● A frightened boy rushed out.→ Out
rushed a frightened boy.
1/ I do not know they are carsick.
Little do I know ....
2/ You should not leave your children
unsupervised under any circumstances.
Under no circumstances should you leave...
3/ I won't reveal the truth on any account.
On no account will I reveal the truth.
4/ He could not pass the exam in any way.
In no way could he pass the exam.
5/ As soon as he arrived, he made a fuss.
No sooner had he arrived than he made a
fuss./ Hardly/ Scarcely/Barely ....... when....
6/ I have never seen such a landscape
before.
Never before have I seen such a landscape.
7/ I could not take a rest until the guests had
left.
Not until the guests had left could I take a
rest.
8/ He rarely dallies with love.
Rarely does he dally with love.
9/ She has not played tennis since she
finished her university.
Not since she finished her university has she
played tennis.
10/ I not only missed the flight but also
spent a night at the airport.
Not only did I miss the flight, but I also
spent a night at the airport.
11/ I cannot find my missing dog anywhere.
Nowhere can I find my missing dog.
12/ I do not love you anymore.
No longer do I love you.
13/ We can find such rare fossils in few
places.
In few places can we find.....
14/ They do not depend on their parents any
longer.
No longer do they depend on their parents.
15/ I can understand you only now.
Only now can I understand you.
16/ She could drive only when she was 20.
Only when she was 20 could she drive.
17/ You can succeed only with your own
efforts.
Only with your own efforts can you succeed.
18/ She is so talented that everyone loves
her.
So talented is she that everyone loves her.
19/ This coin is so rare that it can just be
found in a museum.
So rare is this coin that it can just be found
in a museum.
20/ He is such an approachable teacher that
he is loved by all the students.
Such is this teacher's approachability that he
is loved...
21/ This is such a strong storm that it has
damaged half of the village.
Such is the strength of this storm that it has
damaged half of the village.
22/ Life is such.= Such is life.