Date: Oct 22 2007
Topic: Grammar

Lesson

Inversions consist on putting the auxiliary verb (do/does, have/has, did, etc.) or even modal verbs (should, must, ought to, etc.) before the subject of a clause, and this is what we can see in questions:

Had you finished when he arrived?

Had is the auxiliary verb of the perfect tense placed "before" you, the subject of the sentence.

What we have just seen is the most common use of inversions. However; inversions are also used in many other situations.

They are used with negative and restrictive adverbs (only, never, hardly, little, etc.) to emphasize the sentence. For example: You can say "Only later they learnt his terrible secret." but to give more emphasize to this sentence you can change it as if it was a question (but don't get confused because it isn't a questions, it doesn't take question mark "?"), so the sentence looks like this: "Only later did they learn his terrible secret." it's important the fact that in the end they got to know the secret so the inversion in the sentence remarks that.

Analize the following examples. What is the inversion emphasizing? Which is the tense of the sentence? How would the sentence be without the inversion?

Only then can you belong to me.
Never before had I seen such awful behaviuor.
Little do you know how much trouble you are in.
Not only was he angry, but also very tired.
Never should you remember who's your boss.

How would you invert the following sentences? Can you think of any other example?

She goes to school every day. (She does go to school every day.)
She went to the party.
You have to learn from your mistakes.

Inversions have a wide range of uses. However, in this lesson I only explain the one on negative and restrictive adverbs. Other uses of inversions include: so, nor and neither (I'm very tired, so am I); conditional clauses (Had you been ready, we wouldn't have been late); exclamations (Isn't he lazy!); and others.

Comments

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11:01 AM Dec 04 2008 \| Reply
turbulinaa Albania	grat lesson

11:01 AM Dec 04 2008 | Reply

turbulinaa

Albania

grat lesson

10:57 AM Dec 04 2008 \| Reply
turbulinaa Albania	o yeh mr.john wee allweys have thiss problem with grammer ,,for exempel,,,,should i do,,,,or i must go,,,,or i am litel tierd,,,etc you have righet in thiss so thankyou,,,, you did good exempels ….

10:57 AM Dec 04 2008 | Reply

turbulinaa

Albania

o yeh mr.john wee allweys have thiss problem with grammer ,,for exempel,,,,should i do,,,,or i must go,,,,or i am litel tierd,,,etc you have righet in thiss so thankyou,,,, you did good exempels ….

11:19 PM Dec 03 2008 \| Reply
nad1a Greece	neat

11:19 PM Dec 03 2008 | Reply

nad1a

Greece

neat

11:18 PM Dec 03 2008 \| Reply
nad1a Greece	yeah, inversions are very important in the formal oral or written speech. good job (Nikos, no need to bite , sweetheart, it's all terminology; once you learn how to use those, who cares what they're called) ;-)

11:18 PM Dec 03 2008 | Reply

nad1a

Greece

yeah, inversions are very important in the formal oral or written speech.

good job

(Nikos, no need to bite , sweetheart, it's all terminology; once you learn how to use those, who cares what they're called)

;-)

10:53 PM Dec 03 2008 \| Reply
tiffintime Sri Lanka	Rarely do I bother to read these grammar lessons; but no sooner had I started to read this one, did I realize its usefulness for improving my English.

10:53 PM Dec 03 2008 | Reply

tiffintime

Sri Lanka

Rarely do I bother to read these grammar lessons; but no sooner had I started to read this one, did I realize its usefulness for improving my English.

07:30 AM Dec 03 2008 \| Reply
Nikos Greece	*She does go to school every day.* this is an emphatic structure but not an example of inversion inversion is when the auxiliary verb comes before the subject another small correction: inversion is not always necessary with negative words like : only , never etc but only when the sentence starts with any of them You will understand only when you see it. Only when you see it, will you understand.

07:30 AM Dec 03 2008 | Reply