Inversion — English But Better

What is inversion? Never / Rarely / Seldom Not only / No sooner Only when / Not until Exercises

What is inversion?

Inversion means putting the auxiliary verb before the subject. This happens in questions ("Are you ready?") but also for emphasis when a negative or limiting adverb starts the sentence.

Structure: Negative/limiting adverb + auxiliary + subject + main verb
"Never have I seen such beautiful scenery."

Never / Rarely / Seldom / Hardly / Scarcely

Adverb	Inverted sentence	Normal word order
Never	Never have I seen such a mess.	I have never seen such a mess.
Rarely	Rarely does she complain about anything.	She rarely complains about anything.
Seldom	Seldom have we had such good weather.	We have seldom had such good weather.
Hardly	Hardly had I sat down when the phone rang.	I had hardly sat down when the phone rang.
Scarcely	Scarcely had she arrived when it started raining.	She had scarcely arrived when it started raining.

Hardly/Scarcely + when; No sooner + than: "Hardly/Scarcely had I left when it started raining." "No sooner had I left than it started raining."

Not only / No sooner / Under no circumstances

Phrase	Example
Not only … but also	Not only did she arrive late, but she also forgot the report.
No sooner … than	No sooner had he arrived than the argument started.
Under no circumstances	Under no circumstances should you leave the building during the alarm.
In no way	In no way is this acceptable behaviour.
At no time	At no time did he show any sign of regret.

Only when / Only after / Not until

When only or not until introduces a time clause, the main clause uses inversion.

Phrase	Example
Only when	Only when she read the letter did she understand the truth.
Only after	Only after the meeting did I realise my mistake.
Not until	Not until midnight did they find him.
Only then	She saw the message. Only then did* she understand.*

← Used to / Would So and Such →