INVERSION PRACTICE

Sentences with inversion to analyse and underline.

1. He isn’t qualified to give you advice, and neither am I.
2. I’m not planning to cut out carbs completely, and nor should you be so extreme.
3. Not until I got home did I realise that I’d left the cooker on.
4. Until you are told to, under no circumstances should you hit this button.
5. Little did she realise that what she was predicting was her own death.
6. No sooner had I started work than the company went bankrupt.
7. We never would have survived had it not been for the help of a dolphin.
8. Never had I felt so short until I went to the Netherlands.
9. Not only did he quit at a busy time but he persuaded two others to come with him.
10. So idiotic was his suggestion that everyone started laughing.
11. Only after he had checked the cleanliness of our hands could we start eating.
12. At no time should you smoke while you are pregnant.
13. Please feel free to phone me should you have any problems.
14. We had to wait twice as long as usual, such was the length of the queue.

Sentences without inversion, to correct.

1. Hardly I had got to grips with the new job when I was transferred again.
2. So few people there were at the party that the neighbours didn’t even notice it was
3. happening.
4. So little time there was left that we had to use a helicopter.
5. On no account you can have a party in this house, even if no boys come.
6. Never, since we first moved here, that has changed.
7. Even when the video went viral, not for a moment I believed it was true.
8. Rarely we have had so much fun as when we were playing on that muddy beach in
Poole.
9. Not since I was born I have been in such danger.
10. I had not been warned of what was coming, I would have been terrified.

Use the word given in capitals at the end of each line to form a word that fits in the
space. Don’t leave the word unchanged, check for negatives/opposites, make sure the
word makes sense in context.
1. Under no _______________ must you mix the green and yellow liquids.
CIRCUMSTANCE
2. Little did he __________________________ how expensive it would turn out to be.
REAL
3. Not until I got home did I __________ that I was wearing someone else’s coat.
MEMORY
4. No _____________ was the pie put out to cool than it was stolen from the window.
SOON
5. We never would have ___________________ had it not been for peanuts.
SURVIVAL
 6. Not only _________________ he possess a Rolls Royce, but he has a chauffeur too.
DO
7. So _________________ was the advertising campaign that it became an ironic hit.
IDIOT
8. ____________________ after he had eliminated all his enemies could he feel safe.
LONE
9. At no _____________________________ should American English be used.
TIMING
10. Should you have any problems, ______________________ do not hesitate to contact
me.
11. PLEASURE
12. Such is the current ________________ that the top 1% owns 90% of the country.
EQUAL
13. ____________________________________ had we seen such a wonderful feast.
HARD
14. On no ______________________________________ must we raise our voices.
COUNT
15. Not for a ______________________________ had I swallowed his story.
MOMENTARILY
16. ________________________________ else will you find such rare soul records.
WHERE
17. _____________________________ are such high prices paid for such dull art. RARE
18. ________________________________ was there any chance for redemption.
SCARCE
19. ______________________ had I started my career when my job became obsolete.
BARE
20. You are not right about this, but then again ______________________ is he. EITHER
21. You don’t have the legal right to do this and, in my humble opinion,
________________ do you have the moral right. OR

Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first sentence,
using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use between three and
eight words, including the word given.

1. She had no idea that the company was suffering from severe financial difficulties.
IN
Little _____________________________________________ severe financial difficulties.
2. I had been working there only a very short time when the company went bankrupt.
STARTED
No _________________________________________than the company went bankrupt.
3. We never would have survived if not for a dolphin helping.
HAD
We never would have survived _________________________________ help of a dolphin.
4. He spread rumours about me and wrote them on the bathroom wall too.
DID
Not ___________________________________ he wrote them on the bathroom wall.
5. He had made such a nonsensical plan that everyone ridiculed him.
THAT
Everyone ridiculed him, so _______________________________________ planned.
6. The picnic was only able to start when he had killed the last wasp.
COULD
Only _____________________________________________________ the picnic start.
7. You should never drink caffeine during pregnancy.
WHILE
At no ________________________________________________________ are pregnant.
8. There was so much demand for the cherry pies that we had to bake twice as many pies
as usual.
THE
We had to bake twice as many pies as usual, such __________________________ ones.
9. Because there were an extremely low number of objections, the trail finished in record
time.
THAT
So _________________________________________ the trial finished in record time.
10. I have rarely felt the level of embarrassment that I did on that day.
AS
Seldom ________________________________________________ I did on that day.
11. You won’t have such a Dutch experience anywhere outside of the Netherlands.
WILL
Outside of the Netherlands, ____________________________ such a Dutch experience.
EMPHASIS PRACTICE

b) It's ………………………………….. certain that the president will be re-elected.

c) You may have lots of restaurants where you live, but there are
………………………………….. in this part of town.
d) I told ………………………………….. you about the leaking pipes, but you
wouldn't listen.
e) You don't seem ………………………………….. interested in my problems!
f) Strange ………………………………….. , the bus is actually faster than the train.
g) In the end ………………………………….. was to call a plumber.
h) We ………………………………….. all day, but Chris never turned up.
i) Pauline was ………………………………….. bothered by our turning up so late.
j) It ………………………………….. Jim that you saw; he is in Germany at the
moment.