4B adding emphasis (1): inversion
1 Notonly is ehe plot great, (but) i's also very well written
‘Not until you can behave like an adult will we treat you like
anadult
Never have I heard such ridiculous argument.
No sooner had he foothall match started than ithegan to
snow heavily
Not only did you forget to shut the window, (but) you also
forgot to lock the door!
Not until you become a parent yourself do you understand
wwharit really means.
3. The train began to move. Only then was Table corelax
‘Only when you leave home do you realize how expensive
everythings.
Hardly had Isat down when | before the train began to move
Rarely have I meta more irritating person,
Ties agile yon is wring wo aac
normal word order to make the sentence more emphatic or dramatic
1 This struceureis common with negative adverbial expressions
suchas Not ony Notun... Newer. and No sooner.
(Caformal way of ying a soon a)
* When we ust inversion after he above expressions we change
theorder of the sbjectand (auxiliary) ver. NOT Novonly the
Powis
Compare
Thaveneverheardsuck ridiculows argument (= normal word
onde)
[Never have head sucha riiclons angument. (+ inversion ro
ake Hi ceateres escalate)
Pa eeeeteeteciete bemetere eens
inverting the subjecrand ver, wee do does did subject
+ taiayerts NOT Naronl fret joutoshathemndower
3 Imersionis also used after the expressions Only then,
Only when. Hardly Searcy Rae
‘Overuse oF inversion
Inversion should only be used occasional for dramatic effect.
Gverusing it wil make your English sound unnatural
GRAMMAR BANK
Rewrite the sentences to make them more emphatic.
6
9
10
{Thad jase started reading when ll the lights went out
No sooner had I startd reading than all he lights went out.
[ide realize my mistake until years later.
Notuntil
We had never seen such magnificent scenery.
Never
They aot only disliked her, bu th
Notonly
We only understood what he had really suffered when we
read his autobiography.
Only when
We had just started to eat when we heard someone knocking
arthedoor
ardly
have rarely ead such badly written novel
Rarely
Until you've tried to wr
novel yourself, you don't realize
how hard itis.
Notuntil
The hotel room was depressing, and was cold as wel
Novoaly
We only light the fire when itis unusually cold.
Only when
Shortly after he had gone to sleep the phone rang.
No sooner
only realized the fullscale of the disaster when I watched
the six o'lock news.
[watched the six o'clock news. Only then
He has never regretted the decision he took on that day.
Never
[spoke to the managerand the problem was taken seriously.
Only when
He had scarcely had time to destroy the evidence before the
policearrive.
Seateely