22
Unit 22: Inversion
Changing the emphasis
Select a unit
- 1 Go beyond intermediate with our new video course
- 2 Reported speech in 90 seconds!
- 3 If or whether?
- 4 5 ways to use 'would'
- 5 Let and allow
- 6 Passive voice
- 7 Unless
- 8 Mixed conditionals
- 9 The zero article - in 90 seconds
- 10 The indefinite article - in 90 seconds
- 11 The. That's right - the! Learn all about it in 90 seconds
- 12 The continuous passive
- 13 Future perfect
- 14 Need + verb-ing
- 15 Have something done
- 16 Wish
- 17 Word stress
- 18 Different ways of saying 'if'
- 19 Passive reporting structures
- 20 The subjunctive
- 21 When and if
- 22 Inversion
- 23 Phrasal verbs
- 24 The future
- 25 Modals in the past
- 26 Narrative tenses
- 27 Phrasal verb myths
- 28 Conditionals review
- 29 Used to - review
- 30 Linking words of contrast
Grammar Reference
Inversion
We use adverbial inversion for drama, emphasis or formality.
Form: Move the adverb / adverbial phrase to the beginning of the sentence, and switch the subject and auxiliary:
Normal word order: I had never seen such a wonder.
Using inversion: Never had I seen such a wonder.
When we want to use inversion with sentences that have no auxiliary, we need to add it after the adverb and before the subject in the inverted sentence.
Normal word order: I rarely smoke. (no auxiliary)
Using inversion: Rarely do I smoke. (added do after adverb)