Grammar: Inversion Edited by WANG CHAO QUN

1.Had I known what was going to happen, I would never have left her alone. (=If I had known what was going to happen, I would never have left her alone. ) 2. Were I you, I would act differently. ( = If I were you, I would act differently.) 3. Should it rain tomorrow, we would not be able to visit the farm. (= If it should rain tomorrow, we would not be able to visit the farm.) (Note: Only were, should and had can be used here.) 1. Were, should and had

1. She traveled a great deal, as did most of her friends. (=She traveled a great deal, most of her friends did the same.) I don’t like Mozart. ----Nor/ Neither do I. (=I don’t like Mozart either.) My mother is ill this week. ---So is my sister. ( = My sister is ill too. ) (Note: if there are more than one action: the following structures are used: “So it is with sth/ sb” and “It is the same with sth/ sb”) 2. So, neither and nor

1.Hardly had I arrived when/before a quarrel broke out. (=I had hardly arrived when/before a quarrel broke out.) 2. No sooner had I arrived than a quarrel broke out. (=I had no sooner arrived than a quarrel broke out.) (Note:In the clauses, “had done” is normally used. ) The above sentences means: As soon as I arrived, the quarrel broke out. 3. Hardly and No sooner

1. Only then did I understand what she meant. (=I understood what she meant only then.) 2. Only after a year did I begin to see the results of my work. (=I began to see the result only after a year.) 3. Only when the teacher explained it, did we get to know the meaning of the idiom. (Note: In this pattern, if “Only + adv.” is in front of a sentence, inverted word order is used.) 4. Only + adv.

1. Under a tree was sitting one of the biggest man I have ever seen. (=One of the biggest man I have ever seen was sitting under a tree.) 2. Sitting under a tree was one of the biggest man I have ever seen. (= The same as above) 3. On the bed lay a beautiful young girl. (=A beautiful young girl lay on the bed. ) (Note: In order to make the sentence well balanced, prepositional phrase or participle phrase is shifted in the front, and thus inversion is used.) 5. Prepositional phrase in the front of the sentence.

6. Negative word in the front of the sentence 1. Never have I seen such a beautiful picture. 2. Seldom is Tom late for school. 3. Not until mother came back did he stop playing computer games. Note: If the negative words are in the front of a sentence, inverted word order is used.The following are often used in this case: never, little, nor, neither, seldom, not until, no sooner, hardly, not only, few, etc.)

1. So hard did he work that he fell ill. (=He worked so hard that he fell ill.) 2. So careless was he that he lost his ID card. (=He was so careless that he lost his ID card.)

1.There is a bus and two cars on the road. 2.Here comes the bus. 3.( but: Here he comes.)

1. Much as I like the house, I cannot afford to buy it. (= Though I like the house very much, I cannot afford to buy it.) 2. Worker as he is, he can speak Japanese. (=Though he is a worker, he can speak Japanese.) 3. Boy as he is, he knows a lot. (Though he is a boy, he knows a lot.) In this pattern, modifier like “very”, “a” or “the” are omitted.