The inversion

The  inversion

 

 

The inversion (an irregular verb placement form) is used to stress the uniqueness

of an event and begins with a negative use of a question form

 (use of auxiliary + subject +main verb instead of subject + main verb).

        The inversion is used after:

               >Time expressions like: never, rarely, seldom, hardly, barely, no sooner, scarcely,

only, only after, only then, only when, not only.

                        Example: Only then did the student understand the question.

               >”little” (negative sense):

                       Example: Little did he do sport exercises.

               >Inverted conditional forms: Inverted conditional forms mean more formality.

In these forms, the conditional “if” is dropped and the inverted forms take the place of

The “if clause”.

                        Example: Had he revised his lessons, he wouldn’t have got low marks.

                    (meaning: if he had revised his lessons, he wouldn’t have got low marks.)