Inversion - Perfect English Grammar

In most English verb tenses, when we want to use inversion, we just move the verb to before the subject. If there's more than one verb, because a verb tense has ... Inversion (DownloadthisexplanationinPDFhere.) WeuseinversioninseveraldifferentsituationsinEnglish.Inversionjustmeansputtingtheverbbeforethesubject.Weusuallydoitinquestionforms: Normalsentence:Youaretired.(Thesubjectis'you'.It'sbeforetheverb'are'.) Questionform:Areyoutired?(Theverb'are'isbeforethesubject'you'.Theyhavechangedplaces.Thisiscalledinversion.) InmostEnglishverbtenses,whenwewanttouseinversion,wejustmovetheverbtobeforethesubject.Ifthere'smorethanoneverb,becauseaverbtensehasauxiliaryverbsforexample,wemovethefirstverb. Withtwoverbtenseswherewejustchangetheplacesoftheverbandsubject: Presentsimplewith'be': amI/areyou/ishe Pastsimplewith'be': wereyou/wasshe Withotherverbstenses,wechangetheplaceofthesubjectandtheauxiliaryverb(thefirstauxiliaryverbifthereismorethanone).Wedon'tmovetheotherpartsoftheverb: Presentcontinuous: amIgoing/areyougoing Pastcontinuous: washegoing/weretheygoing Presentperfect: havewegone/hasshegone Presentperfectcontinuous: hasshebeengoing/havetheybeengoing Pastperfect: hadyougone Pastperfectcontinuous: hadhebeengoing Futuresimple: willtheygo Futurecontinuous: willyoubegoing Futureperfect: willtheyhavegone Futureperfectcontinuous: willshehavebeengoing Modalverbs: shouldIgo/wouldyougo Therearetwotenseswhereweneedtoadd'do/does/did'tomakethequestionform.Wealsoneedtochangethemainverbbacktotheinfinitive.Thisisusuallystillcalledinversion. Presentsimplewithanyverbexcept'be'(add'do'or'does'): doyougo/doeshego Pastsimplewithanyverbexcept'be'(add'did'): didwego/didtheygo Whendoweuseinversion? Ofcourse,weuseinversioninquestions.Youcanreadmoreaboutthishere.Butwealsosometimesuseinversioninothercases,whenwearenotmakingaquestion. 1:Whenweuseanegativeadverboradverbphraseatthebeginningofthesentence. Usually,weputtheexpressionatthebeginningofthesentencetoemphasisewhatwe'resaying.Itmakesoursentencesoundsurprisingorstrikingorunusual.Italsosoundsquiteformal.Ifyoudon'twanttogivethisimpression,youcanputthenegativeexpressionlaterinthesentenceinthenormalway: SeldomhaveIseensuchbeautifulwork. ('Seldom'isatthebeginning,soweuseinversion.Thissentenceemphasizeswhatbeautifulworkitis.) Ihaveseldomseensuchbeautifulwork. ('Seldom'isinthenormalplace,sowedon'tuseinversion.Thisisanormalsentencewithnospecialemphasis.) Herearesomenegativeadverbsandadverbphrasesthatweoftenusewithinversion: HardlyHardlyhadIgotintobedwhenthetelephonerang. NeverNeverhadsheseensuchabeautifulsightbefore. SeldomSeldomdoweseesuchanamazingdisplayofdance. RarelyRarelywillyouhearsuchbeautifulmusic. OnlythenOnlythendidIunderstandwhythetragedyhadhappened. Notonly...butNotonlydoeshelovechocolateandsweetsbuthealsosmokes. NosoonerNosoonerhadwearrivedhomethanthepolicerangthedoorbell. ScarcelyScarcelyhadIgotoffthebuswhenitcrashedintothebackofacar. OnlylaterOnlylaterdidshereallythinkaboutthesituation. NowhereNowherehaveIeverhadsuchbadservice. LittleLittledidheknow! OnlyinthiswayOnlyinthiswaycouldJohnearnenoughmoneytosurvive. InnowayInnowaydoIagreewithwhatyou'resaying. OnnoaccountOnnoaccountshouldyoudoanythingwithoutaskingmefirst. Inthefollowingexpressions,theinversioncomesinthesecondpartofthesentence: NotuntilNotuntilIsawJohnwithmyowneyesdidIreallybelievehewassafe. NotsinceNotsinceLucyleftcollegehadshehadsuchawonderfultime. OnlyafterOnlyafterI'dseenherflatdidIunderstandwhyshewantedtolivethere. OnlywhenOnlywhenwe'dallarrivedhomedidIfeelcalm. OnlybyOnlybyworkingextremelyhardcouldweaffordtoeat. Weonlyuseinversionwhentheadverbmodifiesthewholephraseandnotwhenitmodifiesthenoun:Hardlyanyonepassedtheexam.(Noinversion.) 2:Wecanuseinversioninsteadof'if'inconditionalswith'had''were'and'should'.Thisisquiteformal: Normalconditional:IfIhadbeenthere,thisproblemwouldn'thavehappened. Conditionalwithinversion:HadIbeenthere,thisproblemwouldn'thavehappened. Normalconditional:Ifwehadarrivedsooner,wecouldhavepreventedthistragedy! Conditionalwithinversion:Hadwearrivedsooner,wecouldhavepreventedthistragedy! 3:Wecanuseinversionifweputanadverbialexpressionofplaceatthebeginningonthesentence.Thisisalsoquiteformalorliterary: Onthetablewasallthemoneywehadlost.(Normalsentence:Allthemoneywehadlostwasonthetable.) Roundthecornercametheknights.(Normalsentence:Theknightscameroundthecorner.) 4:Wecanuseinversionafter'so+adjective...that': Sobeautifulwasthegirlthatnobodycouldtalkofanythingelse.(Normalsentence:thegirlwassobeautifulthatnobodycouldtalkofanythingelse.) Sodeliciouswasthefoodthatweateeverylastbite.(Normalsentence:thefoodwassodeliciousthatweateeverylastbite.) Tryanexerciseaboutinversionhere. Needmorepractice?GetmorePerfectEnglishGrammarwithourcourses. WelcometoPerfectEnglishGrammar!Welcome!I'mSeonaidandIhopeyoulikethewebsite.Pleasecontactmeifyouhaveanyquestionsorcomments.reportthisad xx