INVERSION

Subject – operator inversion (partial inversion):

 operator (1st auxiliary) + subject + main verb (the rest of the verb phrase)
 questions: in direct questions unless the question word/phrase is the subject
 exclamations: the structure of a negative question; in AE exclamations often have the same form as ordinary (non-negative)
questions; in a rather old-fashioned literary style, inversion is sometimes found in exclamations after how and what
 with may: may can come before the subject in wishes
 after so, such, neither, nor: in ‘short answers’ and similar structures, these words are followed by auxiliary verb + subject
 after negative and restrictive expressions at the beginning of a clause for emphasis (phrases, clauses), usually followed by
auxiliary verb + subject; these structures are mostly rather formal or literary:
Under no circumstances…, At no time…, On no account…, Not until…, Not since…, Only…, Only once…, Only when…, In no
way…, No way… (informal), Seldom…, Rarely…, Never in my life…, Never before…, Never again…, No longer…, Little…,
Least of all…,
patterns with no sooner and hardly/barely/scarcely:
No sooner + past perfect (for action) or past simple (for state) with inversion … + than + simple past
Hardly/scarcely/barely + past perfect (for action) or past simple (for state) with inversion … + when/before + simple past
when not + object is put at the beginning of a sentence for emphasis
 after as, than and so: sometimes after as, than and emphasising so in a literary style (comparative clauses when the S is not a
personal pronoun)
 conditional clauses: in formal and literary conditional clauses the auxiliary verb can be put before the subject instead of using
if (Should…, Were…, Had…)

Subject – verb inversion (full inversion):

 After adverbial expressions of place or direction at the beginning of a clause, intransitive verbs are often put before their
subjects. This happens especially when a new indefinite subject is being introduced. The structure is most common in literary
and descriptive writing. This structure is often used in speech with here, there and other short adverbs and adverb particles. If
the subject is a pronoun, it goes before the verb.
 reporting: In story-telling, the subject often comes after reporting verbs like said, asked, suggested etc when these follow
direct speech. If the subject is a pronoun, it usually comes before the verb.
 in clause patterns SVCs and SVCa when the complements are fronted  CsVS and CaVS (to achieve end-focus on the S) – a
rather mannered, even poetic tone, but this phenomenon is common enough in ordinary informal speech (here/there + be)

No inversion:
 questions: reported question, indirect questions and direct questions when the questions word/phrase is the subject
 after non-emphatic adverbial expressions of place and time (after not far… and not long…)
 yes/no interrogative, alternative interrogative and wh-interrogative clauses (nominal subordinate clauses that resemble yes/no,
alternative and wh-questions, except they have no inversion)

Compiled by
Marko Majerović
Department of English
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
University of Zagreb

Sources:
Eastwood, John: Oxford Guide to English Grammar, OUP, 1994
Eastwood, John: Oxford Learner’s Grammar, OUP, 2005
Swan, Michael: Practical English Usage, International Student’s Edition, OUP, 1996
Swan, Michael: Practical English Usage, Third Edition, OUP, 2005
Greenbaum, Sidney & Randolph Quirk: A Student’s Grammar of the English Language, Longman, 1990
Bieber, Douglas; Susan Conrad, Geoffrey Leech: Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Longman, 2002