ADVERB

INVERSION
XPLORE 12
Unit 1.5. Language Diversity

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 Adverb

I have seldom seen such an extensive

research work on endangered languages.

Adverb Inversion

Seldom such an extensive

research work on endangered languages.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 Adverb

She had never seen such a beautiful

manuscript before.

Adverb Inversion

Never such a
beautiful manuscript before.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 When a negative adverb – never,
rarely, seldom, hardly ever – is
placed at the beginning of a
sentence for emphasis, the verb
is moved in front of the subject.

Adverb

Rarely someone
speaking Tagalog.
Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho
 Here are some negative adverbs and adverb
phrases that are often used with inversion.

Seldom Nowhere
Hardly… than Little
Never Only in this way
Rarely In no way
Only then On no account
Not only... but At no time
No sooner… than Under no circumstances
Scarcely In no circumstances
Only later

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 Adverb

He had hardly mentioned it

when the audience protested.

Adverb Inversion

Hardly it
when the audience protested.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 Adverb phrase
She no sooner had accepted the job as a
translator than she regretted it.

Adverb phrase Inversion

No sooner the job

as a translator than she regretted it.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 Adverb
I never made that promise!

Adverb Inversion

Never that promise!

In the Present Simple and the Past Simple tenses

add the auxiliary verb – do / does / did – and make
other necessary changes to the main verb to build
the inversion.
Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho
 Hardly/Barely/Scarcely... when

No sooner... than

These expressions are used to mean that one

action is followed very quickly by a second
action. The verb describing the earlier event is
usually in the past perfect tense.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

Adverb phrase

Not until I listened to the recordings

did I believe we had completed our research.

The inversion occurs

in the second part of
the sentence

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 In the following expressions, the inversion
occurs in the second part of the sentence.
Not until Only after
Not since Only when
Only by

Not since the last speaker died had our community

listened to a Thracian song.
Only when we finished our presentation on
endangered languages did I feel calm.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 Now Practise!

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 1. Rewrite the sentences, putting the
at the beginning and making the necessary changes.

a) Bob gets invited to participate in international

meetings because he doesn’t speak any foreign languages.

b) We have seen such a ground-breaking study on the

dominance of English worldwide.

c) The chairman admitted to having excluded

eastern companies from the deal.

d) She is a thorough researcher but she is also a

gifted linguist.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 e) Maya has learnt Japanese but she has also
become an expert in Asian cultural traditions and
customs.

f) Our company will dismiss

workers who aren’t able to speak English.

g) The conference began its opening session

the professor arrived to deliver his speech.

h) Our world has come so close to having a single

global language as nowadays.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 i) Early linguists knew about how languages
evolve that they never embraced the concept of
language death.

j) That researcher had gathered any valid data

when he published an inaccurate article on the death of
a Polynesian dialect.

Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho

 does Bob get invited to participate in
international meetings because he doesn’t speak any
foreign languages.

have we seen such a ground-breaking study on

the dominance of English worldwide.

did the chairman admit to having

excluded eastern companies from the deal.

is she a thorough researcher but she is also a

gifted linguist.

has Maya learnt Japanese but she has also

become an expert in Asian cultural traditions and customs.
Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho
 will our company
dismiss workers who aren’t able to speak English.
the professor arrived to deliver his speech
did the conference begin its opening session.
has our world come so close to having a
single global language as nowadays.

did early linguists know about how

languages evolve that they never embraced the concept
of language death.

had that researcher gathered any valid

data than he published an inaccurate article on the
death of a Polynesian dialect.
Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho
 Further Practice!

Inversion Quiz 1

ADVERB
INVERSION
XPLORE 12
Unit 1.5. Language Diversity
Teresa Pinto de Almeida ▪ Paula M. Araújo ▪ Telma Coelho