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INVERSIONS - Coggle Diagram
INVERSIONS
Negative or restrictive adverbials
None
Not a penny
would they give to charity
Not one bite
did he eat.
Not a single person
did they meet that day.
Too much / (not) enough
Too often
do we see people struggling to make ends meet.
Too long
have we waited for a change.
One place/time/person, etc.
Only in the capital
did we feel truly welcome.
Only in the summer
was it possible to open the windows.
Unusual
Rarely do you find
someone like that.
Seldom do we stop
to think about people in poorer countries.
Never/ Not any more
At no time
did we think the project would fail.
Never (before)
have I felt so angry.
No longer
can we ignore the problem.
Not in a thousand years
will I go back there again. (informal)
Not once
did they offer any help.
Never (again)
will we attempt to intervene.
Immediately / Only just
No sooner
had one game finished
than
another was begun.
Barely
had we got over the flu
when
we were struck down with a stomach bug.
Hardly
had the policy been announced
than
the government came up with a new and better idea.
Scarcely
had we had time to meet the villagers
than
we were hustled back onto the bus.
Note
We use the conjunctions than or when after barely, hardly, scarcely and no sooner
Barely had we stepped off the plane
than...
Scarcely had we fallen asleep
when...
Only after/at a certain time
Not until his return
did we appreciate how much we had missed him.
Only when the music stopped
did people start to go home.
Only then
did people start to go home.
Impossible/Prohibited
Under no circumstances
should you buy products from companies which exploit workers.
On no account
can drinks be taken outside.
No way
can I forget what I saw there. (informal)
Addition
Not only is she
young, she’s inexperienced.
Unexpected
Little
did she know that trouble was coming.
Inversion after negative or restrictive adverbials
When we want to emphasise an event because it is new, rare, unexpected, sudden, impossible, etc. we can use negative or restrictive adverbials followed by inverted word order
I had never been there before. > Never before had I been there.
They didn’t try to help me. > Not once did they try to help me.
When he came home we realised we had missed him. > Only when he came home did we realise we had missed him.
Inversion structures are usually quite formal. We use them more in written texts such as narratives and in formal speech such as presentations.