W O R KS H E E T 8 A C1

INVERSIONS
"ONLY IN GRAMMAR CAN YOU BE MORE THAN PERFECT"
WILLIAM SAFIRE

1.Inversions with negative adverbials!

No way am I going to learn this today!
Although one can speak perfect English without
ever using a negative inversion, it is important
to know how to use this construction in formal
written language (not to mention that almost
every ESL exam tests it). We use it in order to
make a statement more emphatic, dramatic or
rhetorical. For doing such inversion, we need
some adverbials (adverbs and adverbs phrases)
which are essentially negative or restrictive.
Some of the most important are:

No sooner... than ...

Scarcely/Hardly/Barely ... when /before ...

Never Only then

Rarely Only when ...
Seldom Only after ...

Under no circumstances
On no account
Little

Not only ... but also ...

Not for nothing
Neither ... nor ...
No way

2.LET’S SEE HOW IT WORKS:

You may see me struggle, but you’ll never see me quit. C.J. Watson
(Usual form)

You may see me struggle, but never will you see me quit.
(Formal written English)

You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. (Usual form)

Not only are you responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say. (Formal written English)
Martin Luther King

Conclusion
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 W O R KS H E E T 8 B C1
Failure seldom stops you. What stops you is the fear of failure. Jack Lemmon

(Usual form)

Seldom does failure stop you. What stops you is the fear of failure.
(Formal written English)

Behaviors and feelings rarely lined up

(Usual form)

Rarely did behaviors and feelings line up Richelle mead

(Formal written English)

Conclusion ______________________________________________________________________________________

We shouldn’t lose hope under any circumstances. Dalai Lama

(Usual form)

Under no circumstances should we lose hope.

(Formal written English)

We won't realize the distance we've walked until we take a look around and realize how far we've been. (Usual form)

Little will we realize the distance we've walked until we take a look around and realize how far we've been. (Formal
written English)

Conclusion ______________________________________________________________________________________

You will be free to fly only when you let go of everything that is weighing you down.
(Usual form)

Only when you let go of everything that is weighing you down, will you be free to fly.
(Formal written English)

We could live in peace only after we forgave each other. Leo Tolstoi

(Usual form)

Only after we forgave each other, could we live in peace.

(ONLY THEN) (Formal written English)

Conclusion ______________________________________________________________________________________
 W O R KS H E E T 8 C C1

3.Now let’s try some inversions.

Make the negative inversion of the following sentences. Take into account your conclusions, and then
compare with a partner.

I have seldom heard such hypocrisy from a party which continued to squabble internally for the next four
years.

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There has rarely been so much speculation about the end of the world.

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I have never faced such a chronic fatigue.

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● Never, rarely and seldom are commonly used with a perfect tense and so/such or a comparative.

We had no sooner come to office than the Stock Market crashed.

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The first votes had scarcely rolled in when it was obvious that we would be re-elected with a huge majority.

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They had barely won the match when the coach had a heart attack.

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● Hardly, scarcely and barely go with the past perfect. No sooner may be also used with other tenses,
but never for the future. All of them are often used to emphasize that an event quickly followed another.

We won’t rest on our laurels under any circumstances. There is no room for complacency in this government.

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He didn`t realize that it would be the young voters who gave us an overwhelming vote of confidence in
yesterday's election.

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Government shouldn’t take health care decisions

on any account.

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● Under no circumstances and on no account are

used to strongly express what is not allowed.
Little is usually used in this way: Little + verb of
cognition such as imagine, know, realize, suspect,
understand, be aware of, etc. and it means something
like "have no idea".
 W O R KS H E E T 8 D C1
He did not only claim he'd become Prime Minister within three years, he also reckoned that this party was
now unpopular with younger voters.

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I am in no way related to that party.

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Blendex is not for nothing the best place for learning.

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I neither agreed with it, nor I approved it.

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● No way is also very common in speech. In constructions with not only ... but also the first clause is inverted and
the second uses normal word order. The "but" and the "also" are both optional. Not for nothing means "for
good reasons". In constructions with neither ... nor both parts are inverted.

I only realized that he had been lying to us much later.

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She will only accept his proposal when her parents agree.

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George vented his spleen on his secretary only after his

conversation with the boss.

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We can achieve our goals only then.

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● Only when, only after, only later and only then usually refer to the past, and
they may use similar verb forms to conditionals.