Inversion

No sooner … than and hardly / scarcely / barely … when show that two actions came very close together: the first action had hardly finished when the second one began. This is the most tested part of the chapter, so we take no sooner first.

✔ I had no sooner entered the room than she pushed me. (normal)
✔ No sooner had I entered the room than she pushed me. (inversion)

[[parse: X=No sooner | HV=had | S=I | MV=entered | O=the room | CONJ=than | X=she pushed me]]

When no sooner opens the sentence, the helping verb goes before the subject. Look at these two sets of examples:

✘ No sooner we had arrived home than the police rang the doorbell. (use had we)
✘ No sooner he had seen Radhika than he fell in love with her. (use had he)
✔ No sooner had he seen Radhika than he fell in love with her.

Which helping verb? Two patterns are accepted.

✔ No sooner had I reached the platform than the train left.
✔ No sooner did I reach the platform than the train left.

Whichever is chosen, the verb that follows is fixed. After had we need V3, and after did we need V1. Never mix them.

✘ No sooner did we heard the announcement… (use hear)
✘ No sooner had she shout… (after had the verb is V3: shouted)

[[say:radhika| If both had and did look right in the options, which one is to be picked?]]

[[say:sir| Keep the tense of the original sentence. If the sentence was in the past indefinite, take did + V1. If it was in the past perfect, take had + V3. Examiners often put two look-alike options, so check the logic, not the look.]]

The partner of no sooner is than. The reason is simple. Sooner is a comparative word (like taller or better), and a comparative always takes than.

✔ No sooner had I reached the platform than the train left.

Students and examiners often swap than for words that look or sound close. All of these are wrong after no sooner:

✘ No sooner did the rabbit come out of the bush when the hunter killed it. (use than)
✘ No sooner had Kavya started her class that the web connection was lost. (use than)
✘ No sooner did the child start crying then the mother hugged him. (use than)

Then talks about time and than compares. Here we compare, so we want than.

> Memory line: sooner is a comparative, so it takes the than that is spelt t-h-a-n.

The clause after than is normally in the past indefinite, as in the examples above. And the second clause does not get inverted. Only the clause that starts with no sooner is inverted.

✔ No sooner had he got out of her sight than she proceeded to tamper with the letter.

Hardly, scarcely and barely mean the same thing as no sooner: the first action had hardly finished when the second began. Their partner is when.

✔ I had hardly entered the room when she pushed me. (normal)
✔ Hardly had I entered the room when she pushed me. (inversion)

[[parse: X=Hardly | HV=had | S=I | MV=entered | O=the room | CONJ=when | X=she pushed me]]

✔ Scarcely had I got out of bed when the doorbell rang.
✔ Hardly had the police seen the culprit when he started fleeing away.
✘ Barely she had walked in when her dog came rushing to her. (use had she)

Tenses. The first clause (with hardly) takes the past perfect, had + V3. The second clause (with when) takes the past indefinite.

Before. Before is also acceptable with hardly and scarcely, but when is the best choice. If both are given, choose when.

No inversion when the word is not at the start. The inversion is triggered only by the opening position.

✔ We had hardly reached there when he attacked me. (no error)

✘ Hardly I had entered the room… (the error is the missing inversion, so write Hardly had I entered; the answer is not to move hardly back)

Hard is not hardly. Hard means with effort. Hard had she thrown is wrong; the word we want is hardly.

> Hardly and scarcely never go with than. Than is only for no sooner.

The two families mean the same, so the exam likes to mix them. Keep this small table in mind:

A mixed sentence has an opener from one row and a partner from the other. Spot it first, then decide which side to correct.

✘ Hardly had he gone out than a client came to meet him. (use when)
✘ No sooner she had put the baby to sleep when a loud noise woke him up.

In the second sentence two things are wrong at once: she had is not inverted, and no sooner has met when. A replacement such as Scarcely had she fixes both, because scarcely takes when and the inversion is already there.

✔ Scarcely had she put the baby to sleep when a loud noise woke him up.

Converting from the normal order. If a sentence is given in the normal order with the wrong partner, the correction usually brings the opener to the front, adds inversion, and swaps in the correct partner.

✘ She had no sooner taken a few steps forward that she suddenly recoiled.
✔ No sooner had she taken a few steps forward than she suddenly recoiled.

Spelling traps. The word is no sooner, not no soon.

✘ No soon the Chief Minister step in than the bomb exploded.
✔ No sooner did the Chief Minister step in than the bomb exploded.

> As soon as is a third way to say the same thing. It has no inversion and needs no than or when. Do not mix it with either pair.

Never, seldom and rarely are adverbs of frequency. Normally they stand after the helping verb and before the main verb. When we put them at the start of the sentence, we use inversion.

✔ You have never worked so hard. (normal)
✔ Never have you worked so hard. (inversion)

✔ Rarely do we see such an amazing display of dance.
✔ Seldom will you hear such melodious music.
✔ Seldom do we find so many birds nesting during this season.

Do not write Seldom does we find (the subject we needs do) or Seldom did we found (after did the verb is V1).

Never + preposition + noun. These openers belong in the same family: Never before, Never in my life, Never in the history of India.

✔ I have never seen such a girl in the town before. (normal)
✔ Never before have I seen such a girl in the town. (inversion)

✘ Never in my life I have seen such a girl. (use have I)
✘ Never before in my life there was such a difficult exam. (use was there)
✘ Never before in the history of India there has been such a great leader as Smt. Indira Gandhi. (use has there)

When the sentence starts with there, the subject is there itself, so the helping verb goes in front of there. In the same way, Rarely has there been such a crowd in this town.

Little. Little is a negative adverb of degree and means "next to nothing". It normally comes after the verb. At the start it takes inversion.

✔ I knew little about her when I first met her. (normal)
✔ Little did I know about her when I first met her. (inversion)
✔ Little did Manvi realise how tough the paper would be.
✔ Little does Radhika know about the surprise waiting for her.

Little John is a name, not a negative adverb, so there is no inversion: Little John did not know the way.

Keep the original tense. Never I asked is wrong, and so is Never asked I. The sentence is past indefinite, so we write Never did I ask.

Expressions made with no normally come at the end of the sentence. When they come at the start, we use partial inversion.

Structure: preposition + no + noun

in no way, on no account, under / in no circumstances, at no cost

✔ She will accept the offer on no account. (normal)
✔ On no account will she accept the offer. (inversion)

✘ Under no circumstances you should leave the door unlocked. (use should you)
✘ In no way I do agree with you. (use do I)
✔ In no way do I agree with you.
✔ At no cost can I help you. (= I cannot help you at any cost)

Why they invert. In I can help you at no cost, the no belongs to can help. It negates the verb. Once the phrase is moved to the front, the subject would break the link, so the helping verb moves ahead.

The test: does the negative word negate the verb? If yes, invert. If the phrase only describes how, where or how fast, and does not negate the verb, the order stays normal.

✔ In no time I can complete this task. (in no time means "very quickly"; it does not negate complete)

So in no time does not need inversion. The expressions that the exam builds its errors on are in no way, on no account, under no circumstances and at no cost, where the negative sense is clear.

> Practise: With no help I can complete the task. Does with no help negate complete? Decide, and then check it with the test above.

Expressions made with not also take partial inversion when they start the sentence. The common ones are not until, not for one moment, and not + a / even + noun.

In a normal sentence, not stands before the main verb and the rest of the phrase can come later.

✔ He did not say even a word. (normal)
✔ Not even a word did he say. (inversion)
✔ Not for one moment did I think he would leave me like that.

Not until. This is the one that needs the most care.

✔ He could not complete the task until she helped him. (normal)
✔ Not until she helped him could he complete the task. (inversion)

[[parse: X=Not until | S=she | MV=helped | O=him | HV=could | S=he | MV=complete | O=the task]]

✘ Not until 5 pm he called me. (use did he call)
✘ Not until we had reached the top we realize how far we had come. (use did we realize)
✔ Not until 5 pm did he call me.
✔ Not until she reached Delhi did I call her.
✔ Not until the following Monday was I able to walk.

The inversion happens in the main clause, which is the clause after the not until part. The not until clause itself keeps its normal order. A perfect tense in the until clause usually goes with a simple tense in the main clause: *Not until the auditors had submitted their report did the full extent of the lapses become evident.*

The passive. Use was / were, not had: Not until the data was independently verified was it accepted by the journal.

> Memory line: until after not is never used again inside the same clause. The not belongs to the until part and travels to the front with it, so do not write another not in the main clause.

Not every 'not' makes inversion. If not negates only the word right after it, and not the whole sentence, the order stays normal.

✔ Not far from here you can find wild animals. (not far means "near"; the sentence is not negative)
✔ You can find wild animals not far from here.

Compare: Not until 5 pm did he call me. Here not until 5 pm negates the whole sentence, so we invert. Check what the not phrase is attached to: the whole sentence, or only one word.

Two common slips. The first is to invert the not until clause itself. The second is to use inversion after It was not until ….

✘ Not until did the results come he relaxed. (the not until clause keeps its normal order)
✔ Not until the results came did he relax.

✘ It was not until the second report was leaked to the press did the ministry issue a formal clarification.
✔ It was not until the second report was leaked to the press that the ministry issued a formal clarification.

When the sentence begins with It was not until, it is a different pattern. The partner is that, and the clause after that is in the normal order and the normal tense. Inversion belongs to the pattern in which Not until itself opens the sentence.

Not only … but also. Normally this pair stands before the verbs. When not only opens the sentence, we use inversion in that first clause.

✔ She not only forgot my birthday but also missed the class. (normal)
✔ Not only did she forget my birthday, but she also missed the class. (inversion)

✘ Not only he agreed to my proposal, but he also forwarded it with his full support. (use did he agree)
✘ Not only it was raining all day at the wedding, but the band was also late. (use was it)

There is no helping verb in she forgot, so did comes in and the verb goes back to V1. In it was raining, was is already there, so was moves.

✔ Not only did she object to his proposal but she also condemned it in strong terms.

Neither / nor. We use neither or nor to make the next clause negative after a negative clause. At the start of a clause they take inversion.

✔ He did not study, and he did not take the exam either. (normal)
✔ He did not study, neither did he take the exam. (inversion)

✘ He hadn't done any homework, neither he had brought any of his books to class. (use had he)
✔ Neither do I speak French, nor do I speak Spanish.
✔ He does not like her, neither / nor do I. (= I don't either)
✘ I haven't been to New York before and neither my sister. (use neither has my sister)
✔ He did not like the novel, nor did I.

Keep the helping verb in the same tense as the first clause: a present perfect clause is followed by neither has …, a past clause by neither did ….

> The last example in this block, He does not like her, neither / nor do I, is an agreement tag. Tags are covered in the chapter on Question Tags.

Only the first part is inverted. After not only, the helping verb comes before the subject. The part that follows but also is an ordinary clause, so its subject stands first and its verb follows in the normal way.

✔ Not only did he win the match, but he also broke the record.
✘ Not only he won the match, but also did he break the record. (the first part needs did he win; the second part stays normal: he also broke)

In the exam, check the two halves one after the other. The first half must show the helping verb in front of the subject. The second half must not.

Expressions made with only normally come at the end of the sentence. If they are put at the start, we use partial inversion in the main clause.

✔ Only then did she realise that she was mistaken. (only + adverb)
✔ Only after my arrival did she realise her mistake. (only + preposition + noun)
✔ Only after I arrived did she realise her mistake. (only + conjunction + clause)

1. Only + adverb: only then, only once, only recently, only twice.

✘ Only once I saw her. (use did I see)
✘ Only recently he met me. (use did he meet)
✔ Only recently did he meet me.

Students often write Only then she realised. That is wrong; after only then the helping verb comes first, and the verb goes back to V1.

2. Only + preposition + noun: only by hard work, only by working hard, only in this situation, only after confirmation, only after Monday.

✔ Only by hard work can you succeed.
✘ Only after Monday I shall allow you to talk to him. (use shall I)
✘ Only in this situation we can learn more about it. (use can we)

After my arrival is an adverb of time made of a preposition and a noun, so the same concept applies.

3. Only + clause (if, when, after …). Now there are two clauses, and only one of them is inverted: the main clause. The if / when / after clause keeps its normal order.

✘ Only after he comes, I shall allow you to talk to him. (use shall I)
✘ Only if you study, you will pass the test. (use will you)
✘ Only when the prices decrease, I can buy these shares. (use can I)
✔ Only if the weather improves can we go hiking.
✔ Only when you have finished your work can you leave the office.

✘ Only when have you finished your work… (wrong: the subordinate clause was inverted)

[[say:radhika| How can it be known which clause is the main clause?]]

[[say:sir| The clause that starts with if, when or after is the helper, the subordinate clause. The one that comes after it is the main clause. That is the clause that needs the helping verb in front of its subject.]]

Inversion goes to the main clause only. Read this pair carefully.

✘ Only when did he apologise Radhika forgave him. (the inversion has been put into the when clause)
✘ Only when he apologised Radhika forgave him. (there is no inversion at all)
✔ Only when he apologised did Radhika forgive him.

The when clause stays as it is. The helping verb goes to the main clause, and because did is now the helper, the verb forgave goes back to V1: forgive.

Only in the middle of the sentence. When only does not open the sentence, there is no inversion.

✔ She forgave him only when he apologised.
✔ Radhika can succeed only by working hard.

The words only when he apologised are correct in both places. What changes is the order of the main clause, and it changes only when the only phrase comes first.

If so opens the sentence and an adjective or an adverb of manner follows, we use inversion. The same is true for such, to such a degree and to such an extent.

The kind of verb decides how much moves.

1. One verb only (a linking verb). There is no helping verb to leave behind, so the whole verb moves in front of the subject. This is full inversion.

Structure: So + adjective + linking verb + subject + that + …

✔ She was so beautiful that I kept looking at her. (normal)
✔ So beautiful was she that I kept looking at her. (inversion)
✔ So ridiculous sounded his excuse that nobody believed him.

Structure: Such + is / are / was / were + noun + that + …

✔ The damage was such that it would cost us thousands. (normal)
✔ Such was the damage that it would cost us thousands. (inversion)
✔ Such were the losses that the company went bankrupt.

2. Helping verb and main verb both present (an action verb). Only the helping verb moves forward. This is partial inversion.

✔ She talked to me so beautifully that I kept looking at her. (normal)
✔ So beautifully did she talk to me that I kept looking at her. (inversion)
✔ So softly did she speak.
✔ Such a noise did the children make.
✔ I admired her to such an extent that I proposed to her. (normal)
✔ To such an extent did I admire her that I proposed to her. (inversion)

> So beautiful was she and Such was the damage have only one verb (a linking verb), so all of it comes before the subject. Where a helping verb and a main verb are both there, only the helping verb comes forward, as in So beautifully did she talk.

Quick concept: linking verb means the whole verb moves; action verb means only the helping verb moves, and with did the verb goes to V1.

Conditional sentences have their own form of inversion. We drop the if from the if-clause and move should, were or had to the front.

✔ Should they arrive late, we will start without them.
✔ Were she to resign, the board would have to meet at once.
✔ Had he studied, he would have cleared the exam.

Careful with the form. In the first conditional the verb after should is plain V1 (Should he come), because should now does the work of if … comes. In the second conditional, were goes with every subject (Were I, Were he, Were she to resign). In the third, had is followed by V3.

This is the one case in the whole chapter where the subordinate clause itself is inverted. Everywhere else we invert the main clause.

> This topic is given in detail in the chapter on Conditionals.

In full inversion the whole verb (the helping verb with the main verb, or the single verb) goes before the subject. A helping verb is not compulsory.

1. An adverb of place at the start + a noun subject. The adverb can be here, there, out, under, outside, in, up, down. The verb must be one of movement or place, such as walk, stand, sit, lie, swim, hang, march, roll, live, run, come, go, and be (is, am, are, was, were). Sleep also fits.

✔ There lived a king.
✔ There was sitting a king.
✔ Here lies the book that we were searching for all around.
✔ Under the tree was sleeping a lion.
✔ Outside the temple were singing two beggars.
✔ The car stopped and out walked a driver.

2. Where full inversion is not used.

• The verb shows neither movement nor place: talk, smile, eat.

✘ There was talking a king. (there is no movement in talk)
✔ A king was talking there.
✔ Some passengers were eating food under the tree. (normal order)

• The verb is transitive.

✘ Under a tree is reading Rohan a book.
✔ Rohan is reading a book under a tree.

• The subject is a pronoun. Only a noun can be placed after the verb.

✘ The car stopped and out walked she. (use she walked)
✔ The car stopped and out walked Radhika.

3. The verb agrees with the subject, not with the adverb of place. The exam sets this error by giving a verb that agrees with the adverb or with the noun just before the verb.

✘ Here lies the books that we were searching for. (use lie)
✔ Here lie the books that we were searching for.
✔ Outside the temple were singing two beggars. (the plural subject forces were)

[[parse: A=Here | V=lies | S=the book | X=that we were searching for]]

4. In narration. If the reported speech inside the inverted commas comes first and the reporting verb after it, we may invert, but it is not compulsory. Both are right.

✔ "We will surely succeed," said the author.
✔ "We will surely succeed," the author said.
✘ "We will surely succeed," said he. (use he said, because the subject is a pronoun; said he is old-style literary English, and exam keys mark it wrong)

> Natural English prefers There is a hole in my pocket. A hole is in my pocket is not the form used.

1. Optative sentences. These express a wish, a prayer or a curse. Inversion is done in them too.

✔ May God bless you. (partial inversion)
✔ May you be blessed with a good job. (partial inversion)
✔ Long live the queen. (full inversion)

May comes before the subject, and the verb after the subject is V1.

2. Introductory adjectives. If an adjective is written at the start of the sentence to emphasize it, the linking verb is written before the subject. This is full inversion with a linking verb.

The concept applies in two cases.

• The adjective is in the comparative degree.

✔ More beautiful than Reeta is Radhika.
✔ More interesting than playing online games is solving puzzles.

• The adjective is in a participle form (V1 + ing or V3).

✔ Located in the middle of a forest was her house.
✔ Shining brightly is the sun.

[[parse: C=Located in the middle of a forest | V=was | S=her house]]

An adjective placed first for emphasis behaves in the same way:

✔ Also present in the meeting were three people.

The verb agrees with the subject that comes after it, so were in Also present in the meeting were three people.

> Natural order for the same idea: Her house was located in the middle of a forest. The inverted form is used when we want to give the opening phrase special weight.

Some openers are longer than one word, and students stop noticing them because the sentence does not seem to begin with never. They are still negative openers, so the helping verb moves in front of the subject.

Hardly ever and scarcely ever mean almost never. Do not mix them up with hardly … when. Here there is no when clause; the phrase is just a negative adverb of frequency.

✔ She hardly ever misses a class. (normal)
✔ Hardly ever does she miss a class. (inversion)
✔ Scarcely ever did we see him smile.

Rarely if ever and seldom if ever mean very rarely, perhaps never. The whole phrase is the opener, and the inversion follows it.

✔ Rarely if ever does Radhika arrive late.
✔ Seldom if ever have I heard such a clear explanation.

Nowhere is a negative adverb of place. At the start of the sentence it takes inversion.

✔ I have seen such courtesy nowhere else. (normal)
✔ Nowhere else have I seen such courtesy.
✔ Nowhere did the villagers find any water.

Not once means not even one time.

✔ He did not once apologise. (normal)
✔ Not once did he apologise.

As in every earlier concept, the pattern is the same: opener, helping verb, subject, main verb. With did the verb is V1; with has / have / had it is V3.

✘ Hardly ever she misses a class. (use does she miss)
✘ Nowhere I have seen such courtesy. (use have I seen)
✘ Not once he apologised. (use did he apologise)

> Hardly ever is an adverb of frequency and belongs with never and seldom. Hardly … when is a time pair. Look for a when clause to tell them apart.

After inversion the subject stands behind the helping verb, and this is where students lose it. They look at the opener, or at the word just before the verb, and the verb goes wrong. The concept has not changed: the verb agrees with the subject, wherever the subject stands.

✔ Rarely does a student score full marks in this paper. (the subject a student is singular)
✔ Rarely do students score full marks in this paper. (the subject students is plural)

With there. When a negative opener is followed by there, the real subject is the noun that comes after the verb. There only fills the empty place.

✘ Rarely if ever have there been a time when dissent was ignored. (a time is singular, so has there been)
✔ Rarely if ever has there been a time when dissent was ignored.
✔ Never have there been so many applicants for so few posts. (applicants is plural, so have)

To find the subject, jump over there and read the first noun phrase behind the verb.

Two subjects joined by and. The helping verb is plural.

✔ Seldom do the manager and his deputy disagree on policy.

Which helping verbs change? Only the ones that show number: do / does, has / have, is / are, was / were. The helpers had, will, can, should, would, may stay the same for every subject. In Little did the committee know, did is the same for singular and plural, and the verb after it is V1.

✘ Seldom does the manager attends the meetings. (after does the verb is V1: attend)

The noun inside an of-phrase is not the subject.

✘ Seldom do the quality of these mangoes disappoint us. (the subject is the quality, so does)
✔ Seldom does the quality of these mangoes disappoint us.

> Check the helping verb last. First find the subject, decide whether it is one or many, and only then match the helper.

In the newer pattern, two statements, P and Q, are given and the options are Only P, Only Q, Both and Neither. The usual set-up is one hard concept and one easy one in the same question. A very common pair is an inversion sentence (Scarcely had … when) and a subject-verb agreement sentence (The number of students … has).

The method.

• Read P alone and judge it. Never compare P with Q.
• Run the same checks on each statement, in the same order: subject-verb agreement, then tense and conditional, then preposition and redundancy, then pronoun case.
• For an inversion sentence, check the opener first. Is it a negative or limiting word? Is the helping verb before the subject? Is the partner right (no sooner … than, hardly / scarcely … when)? Is the verb after did V1, and after had V3?
• Decide P. Decide Q. Only then look at the options.

Do not assume that one of them must be wrong. Both correct and Neither correct are real answers.

Worked example.

P. Scarcely had the train left the platform when the passengers started complaining about the delay.
Q. The number of students who apply for the scholarship have increased sharply in recent years.

P: the opener Scarcely had is followed by the subject, and the partner is when. P is correct.
Q: the number of is singular, so have increased must be has increased. Q is wrong.
Answer: Only P.

> A correct sentence can look strange. Scarcely … when looks odd to students who only know than, but it is the right pair. Do not mark it wrong because it feels unfamiliar.