INVERSION 2 (Unit 100) Chiara Marchesi

Language Awareness II b
Professor Marvin D. Hoffland

• Inversion after negative adverbials

• Inversion after

- so + adjective … that

- such + be … that

- neither … /nor …

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INVERSION  Negative adverbials are used at the beginning of a clause mainly in
formal and literary language
AFTER  Subject and first auxiliary are inverted
NEGATIVE  Do is used as an auxiliary verb with a simple tense verb after
ADVERBIALS

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  Time adverbials: never (before), rarely, seldom,
barely/hardly/scarcely … when/before, no sooner … than
− Never before have I met such a stupid person.
− Hardly had we arrived home when we heard the news.
Examples of • Only + after/later/if/once/then/when (time expressions)
negative − Only then did I realise that I had forgotten my key.
− Only after waiting many hours did the train finally arrive.
adverbials • Only + prepositional phrases beginning with by/in/with
− Only by chance had Carl discovered where the birds were nesting.
− Only in this way could John earn enough money to survive.

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 • Expressions: at no time, in no way, on no account, under/in no
circumstances
− In no way do I agree with what you are saying.
− On no account should you do anything without asking me first.

• Expressions with not: not only/until/since/for one moment

or not a + noun
Examples of − Not since I was a child have I had such a great time.
− Not a word has she written since the exam has started.
negative • Little with a negative meaning
adverbials − Little did she understand what the conversation was about.

N.B.: Inversion can occur after a clause beginning with only

after/if/when or not until
− Not until the train pulled into the station did Miguel find that his coat had
gone.

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 QUICK SUMMARY
We use inversion after the following negative adverbials:
• Never (before), rarely, seldom, barely/hardly/scarcely …
when/before, no sooner … than
• Only + after/later/if/once/then/when (time expressions)
• Only + prepositional phrases beginning with by/in/with
EXERCISE • At no time, in no way, on no account, under/in no circumstances
• Expressions with not: not only/until/since/for one moment
or not a + noun
• Little

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  When we want to emphasise the adjective, we can use so +
adjective at the beginning of a clause, followed by an inversion
INVERSION  STRUCTURE
AFTER SO + So Adjective First auxiliary Subject

ADJECTIVE … − So beautiful was the girl that everyone kept staring at her.

THAT • Do is used as an auxiliary verb with a simple tense verb after

− So dangerous did the weather conditions become, that all mountain
roads were closed.

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INVERSION  To emphasise the extent or degree of something, we can use such
AFTER SUCH + + be at the beginning of a clause
− Such is the popularity of the play that the theatre is likely to be full
BE … THAT every night.

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INVERSION  We use inversion after neither and nor when they begin a clause
AFTER which introduces a negative addition to a previous negative
sentence
NEITHER… / − He hadn’t done any homework, neither had he brought any of his
books to class.
NOR…

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 QUICK SUMMARY
We use inversion after:
EXERCISE • So + adjective … that
• Such + be … that
• Neither…/ nor…

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  Test-English. n.d. “Inversion with negative adverbials - adding
emphasis.” Accessed January 10th , 2022.
[Link]
 Rob, Lane, Horner School of English. n.d. “Inversion with Negative
Adverbials.” Accessed January 10th , 2022.
[Link]
 Perfect English Grammar. n.d. “Inversion.” Accessed January 10 th , 2022.
[Link]
SOURCES  Learn English. n.d. “Examples of Inversion Used after "So+ Adjective.“
Accessed January 10th , 2022.
[Link]
o-adjective
 Cambridge Dictionary. n.d. “Neither, neither … nor and not … either.”
Accessed January 10th , 2022.
[Link]
neither-neither-nor-and-not-either_2
 Herwings, Martin. 2013. Advanced Grammar in Use, A Self Study
Reference and Practice Bock For Advanced Learners of English,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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