Starting a sentence with a negative adverbial and reversing the order of the subject and the auxiliary verb is a way of adding emphasis. It is a feature of more formal writing. Inversion is also used in political speeches, on the news, and in literature. Some native speakers may also use it occasionally in day-to-day conversation.
- She had never even considered the possibility that he was lying.
- Never had she even considered the possibility that he was lying.
Negative Inversions
Here are some of the more common ways of using inversion:
Adverbs (never, barely, hardly, rarely, seldom, scarcely)
The sentence begins with an adverb and the order of the subject and auxiliary verb is inverted.
- We had hardly arrived at the beach when the sky clouded over and it began to pour rain.
- Hardly had we arrived at the beach when the sky clouded over and it began to pour rain.
Unlock full access by logging in. Registered users can explore the entire lesson and more.