Inversion

       Inversion is one of the ways to emphasize your sentences. To invert  something means to put something in the opposite position to the one it was in before.

Rule to make an inversion sentence

( Kata keterangan + auxiliary + subject + verb / complement )

Example :   Seldom have I seen he cried

There are several different  fronted adverbials that can be used with a perfect  form or  modals and often include comparatives.

ž  Fronted adverbial (negative sense) :  never, rarely, seldom, nowhere, nothing, no way, not once, barely, in no circumstances, not till,  scarcely, no sooner….Than, not + object, etc.                                   

Example:  - No sooner had Rudy come to the class than he realized it was holiday.

ž  Rarely/ Seldom/ Never/ hardly

These are most commonly used with the present perfect or past perfect,  and with modals such as can and could.  The present simple can also be used.

Example : Rarely does a man make me so weak and strong at the same time.

'Only'

‘Only’ is usually used with time expression.

 Such as 'only after', 'only when', 'only then', etc. and ‘by” (manner)

Example:  Only then did I know what I had got myself into.

ž  Not only....., but also….

        Example :   Not only can Justin Timberlake play the piano, but he also can sing well.

ž  Not only….,…too.
- Not only does he like noodle, he like rice too.

 

'Little'

'Little' is used in a negative sense.

Example:   Little do the parents understand what their baby wants.

'So'

'So + adjective ... that‘. combines with the verb 'to be'. Usually followed by clause

ž  It can also be used with ‘much’.

Example:    So much does Ulin adore Nara, that she will not give him up

ž  Inverted Conditional Forms

Sometimes conditional forms are inverted as a mean of sounding more formal. If + subject + auxiliary can be replaced in formal English, or for dramatic effect, by the inversion of the auxiliary and the subject, with the if omitted.

Example:  Had he known that he was loveable, he wouldn't have committed  suicide.