ENGELS DEEL 2
1 5.2 – Inversion
1.1 Definition
I have never seen her so excited for a new job (non-inverted)
Have you ever seen her so excited for a new job? (inverted)
Never have I seen her so excited for a new job (inverted)
Non-inverted sentece: subject + finite verb
Inverted sentece: finite verb + subject
‘inversion’ means reversing the normal subject-verb word order in a sentence
1.2 Use
1) In questions
2) After negative / limiting adverbs (negative adv = never, not, only, rarely, hardly, not only
Non-inverted sentence Inverted sentence
I have never seen her so excited for a new job Never have I seen her so excited for a new job
My secondment not only enhanced my skills, but it Not only did my secondment enhance my skills, but
also expanded my network it also expanded my network
Comanies rarely retain talented staff without strong Rarely do companies retain talented staff without
incentive strong incentives
Effect of inversion:
=> using inversion instead of the normal word order adds emphasis, especially in formal English. It is
common, f.e. in political speeches, because it has a persuasive and impressive effect
1.3 Formation
Inversion in questions: you already know how to form questions
Never have I seen her so excited for a new job
Inversion after a negative or limiting adverb:
to invert a sentence in this way, we put the adverbial (eg: never, rarely, not only,..) at the beginning and
change the normal position of the subject and the auxiliary verb
Inverted sentence: adverbial + auxiliary + subject + rest of sentence
1 5.2 – Inversion
1.1 Definition
I have never seen her so excited for a new job (non-inverted)
Have you ever seen her so excited for a new job? (inverted)
Never have I seen her so excited for a new job (inverted)
Non-inverted sentece: subject + finite verb
Inverted sentece: finite verb + subject
‘inversion’ means reversing the normal subject-verb word order in a sentence
1.2 Use
1) In questions
2) After negative / limiting adverbs (negative adv = never, not, only, rarely, hardly, not only
Non-inverted sentence Inverted sentence
I have never seen her so excited for a new job Never have I seen her so excited for a new job
My secondment not only enhanced my skills, but it Not only did my secondment enhance my skills, but
also expanded my network it also expanded my network
Comanies rarely retain talented staff without strong Rarely do companies retain talented staff without
incentive strong incentives
Effect of inversion:
=> using inversion instead of the normal word order adds emphasis, especially in formal English. It is
common, f.e. in political speeches, because it has a persuasive and impressive effect
1.3 Formation
Inversion in questions: you already know how to form questions
Never have I seen her so excited for a new job
Inversion after a negative or limiting adverb:
to invert a sentence in this way, we put the adverbial (eg: never, rarely, not only,..) at the beginning and
change the normal position of the subject and the auxiliary verb
Inverted sentence: adverbial + auxiliary + subject + rest of sentence
