Inversion — Placing the Verb Before the Subject

So what is inversion? Inversion means placing (i) the verb before the subject or (ii) the auxiliary verb before the subject and the main verb. Inversion is most commonly used in question forms.

Question: Did you complete the application form?
Aux    S   verb

It is also used in specific grammatical constructions in formal writing, usually to add emphasis to statements, and it is especially used in a literary or journalistic style.

Specific case of starting with Only:

Only after performing the experiment again did we believe the unexpected results.
Aux    S   verb

Read on to learn about how to use inversion, or jump straight to testing your knowledge on our short quizzes.

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Note that examples marked with an asterisk (*) are commonly used in literary or journalistic style rather than academic style.

(a) Making questions

• Can you be more specific about the patient’s symptoms?
• Did he say whether the experiment was a success?
• Was the cell type confirmed by the staining pattern?
• Should we proceed with the grant application?
• Was your paper accepted?

(b) Responding to statements starting with so, neither and nor

• Statement: I wish we had more grant money left.     Response: So do I.
• Statement: I don’t think this command will work.     Response: Neither do I.
• Statement: None of us understand the process yet.     Response: Nor do I.

(c) In exclamations following here and there

• Here are the finalists of the Young Researchers Award!
• There goes all our money! (informal and idiomatic)

(d) After adverbial expressions beginning with Only

• Only after his paper was published did he start receiving emails from other researchers.*

(d) After adverbial expressions of place

• Out of the Solar system went Voyager II… *
• Out of a hole in the container trickled the acid and damaged the equipment.*

(e) After negative adverbial expressions

• Under no circumstances can we accept a paper with such serious conflicts of interest.
• In no way can the anonymity of test subjects be compromised.
• At no time during the monitoring period did the patient exhibit side effects.

(f) After hardly, scarcely, no sooner in a chain of events

• Hardly had I begun the lecture when I was interrupted by someone’s mobile phone ringing.*
• Scarcely had we started the test when the instrument broke.*
• No sooner had I added the reagents than/when the solution turned bright red.*

(g) After seldom, rarely, never in comparisons

• Seldom have we seen a discovery with such far-reaching implications.*
• Rarely did he leave the lab before midnight.*
• Never have I seen such a poorly written paper.*