Inversion of the verb after certain adverbs What pattern do you notice about these adverbial expressions? I have never before been asked to accept a bribe. Never before have I been asked to accept a bribe. He had hardly left the house when the storm broke. Hardly had he left the house when the storm broke. He had no sooner left the house than the storm broke. No sooner had he left the house than the storm broke.

Certain adverbs and adverb phrases, mostly with a restrictive or negative sense, can for emphasis be placed first in a sentence and are then followed by the inverted form of the verb.

The most frequent of these adverbs and adverb phrases are: never, seldom, ever, scarcely, scarcely … when, hardly … when, no sooner … than, nowhere, in no circumstances, on no account, only by, only then, only when, only in this way, not till, not only, so neither, nor

This switch must not be touched on any account. On no account must this switch be touched. He was able to make himself heard only by shouting at the top of his lungs. Only by shouting at the top of his lungs was he able to make himself heard. He didn’t realize that he had lost his keys till he got home. Not till he got home did he realize that he had lost his keys.

The thieves not only stole the jewelry, they smashed everything. Not only did the thieves steal the jewelry, they smashed everything. He became so suspicious that … So suspicious did he become that … He had no money and he didn’t have any friends to borrow from. He had no money, nor did he have any friends …

Rewrite the sentences, placing the adverbs or adverbial phrases in red at the beginning of the sentence. He had no sooner put down the receiver with relief than the telephone rang again. The thieves little realized that the police had already surrounded the bank. The doctor told his patient that he should on no account return to work until he fully recovered. I wouldn’t doubt his integrity for one moment. The whole truth didn’t become known until many years later.

Rewrite the sentences, placing the adverbs or adverbial phrases in red at the beginning of the sentence. No sooner had he put down the receiver with relief than the telephone rang again. Little did the thieves realize that the police had already surrounded the bank. The doctor told his patient that on no account should he return to work until he fully recovered. Not for one moment would I doubt his integrity. Not until many years later did the whole truth become known.

For each of the sentences, write another sentence as similar as possible in meaning, beginning with the words in red. Remote villages don’t have regular bus service any more. No longer It’s unusual for temperatures to fall below freezing in the south of the country. Seldom It was the first time he had ever been in such a predicament. Never You won’t succeed unless you work hard. Only It started raining as soon as we stepped outside the door. No sooner

For each of the sentences, write another sentence as similar as possible in meaning, beginning with the words in red. No longer do remote villages have regular bus service any more. Seldom do temperatures fall below freezing in the south of the country. Never had he been in such a predicament. Only by working hard will you succeed. No sooner had we stepped outside the door than it started raining.