masterMind Level 2

Unit 10 Grammar 1
INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE
EXPRESSIONS
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS
1. Identify the inversion with a negative expression.
2. What would a less formal phrase be?
3. Can you notice an error?
= Customer feedback doesn’t only demonstrate
Not only does
customer feedback
demonstrate
how popular this
product is, than
but it
also provides
valuable data on
user experience.
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS
1. Identify the inversion with negative expressions.
2. What would less formal structures be?
Little do people realize how easy it is to use
science to disprove their theories.
People really don’t realize…
Hardly has one theory been disproved when
another even more baseless one emerges.
One baseless theory has just been disproved when…

TIP We generally use inversion

in formal written English.
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS
Examples of inversion with negative expressions:

• No sooner had the expert started explaining

his theory than the press started asking for
photographic evidence.

• Only if I see it with my own eyes will I

believe what he told us.

• Under no circumstances will he convince me

of what he says.
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

negative adverb (phrase) + auxilary verb + subject

Words and phrases referring to time:
_____________________ had we started discussing the
Hardly/Barely/Scarcely
event ______
when the arguments started.
No sooner
__________had than they accused
he produced the photo _____
him of faking it.
Phrase with only:
__________
Only when people understand the elementary laws of
physics ___________
will they see how illogical some of the theories
actually are.
Other adverb phrases: Little ..., Never ..., Rarely ...,
Seldom ..., Under no circumstances ...
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS
We generally use inversion with negative
expressions in formal English. They are generally
used in written texts rather than in conversation.

• Rarely do aviation authorities respond to reports

of UFOs, dismissing them as “unverifiable” when
they do.
• Scarcely had the pictures been published when
they were proved to be fabricated; they had
been photoshopped.
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Complete the sentences with inverted forms of the

words and phrases in parentheses.

1. Only when he published his research on quantum

did the scientific establishment take
theory _____________________________
(the scientific establishment / take) him seriously.

2. Seldom __________
did he give (he / give) lectures about his
ideas to the public.

3. Under no circumstances ________

are you (you / be)
to discuss this with anyone else.
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Put the words in order to make sentences with inversion.

1. Apollo 11/on the moon/no sooner/landed/than/had/

started/about it/conspiracy theories
No sooner had Apollo 11 landed on the moon than
conspiracy theories about it started.

2. continue to/find out/only if/explore space,/whether

we/we/we/will/in the universe/are alone

Only if we continue to explore space will we find out

whether we are alone in the universe.
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Discuss the questions with a partner:

1. What alternative theories, such as UFOs and crop

circles, have you heard of?
2. What’s your reaction to them? Do any seem
credible? Why/Why not?

Use inversion with negative expressions to discuss

your ideas.
 INVERSION WITH
NEGATIVE EXPRESSIONS

Grammar wrap-up
What’s right? What’s wrong?
1 Rarely do scientists make
Right.
such fantastic discoveries.

2
Hardly had he taken the Wrong: Hardly had
picture than he saw the he taken the picture
mysterious aircraft. when he saw…

3 Seldom had I heard more

ridiculous theories. Right.