1. Never has Paco travelled so long without stopping

Icono de iDevice Reflexión
By Eric Bégin. C. Commons

Paco is used to planes. He has travelled a lot by train, but never at any time in his life has he travelled so long without stopping. Although fast, the train does not stop from Melbourne to Canberra.

Have a look at this sentence: "Never at any time in his life has he travelled so long without stopping". What is unusual about it?

 

 

Icono de iDevice Example exercise

In the passage in section one, there are several examples of inversions (V-S instead of S-V) in statements, not in questions. Let's see some of them:


 Imagen: Creación Propia
  • 1. No sooner was it selected than its construction commenced in 1913.
  • 2. Not only is it the seat of the government of Australia, but it is also the location of many social and cultural institutions of national significance.
  • 3. Were I you, I would visit the National Library.
  • 4. Seldom have I seen big libraries.
  • 5. Only when you see it will you realize what a great library it is!
There are three more examples in the passage mentioned. Locate them and study their form.

Icono IDevice Important
As you can see, the structure of all those sentences is exactly the same as if they were questions, that is, the auxiliary or modal verb is placed in front of the subject plus the infinitive (without "to") of the main verb.

 

 

Auxiliary or

Modal verb

+ Subject + Main verb

 

Inversion is normally used in formal English.


Icono IDevice Further knowledge

Try to do this exercise on line, just to practise the structure of inverted sentences. Begin the sentences in the following way:

1. Hardly... 2. Seldom... 3. ... 4. Rarely... 5. Never
6. In no way... 7. No sooner... 8. Only when he saw his wife's face... 9. Never at any time... 10. Under no circumstances...

Icono de iDevice Self-Assessment activity
Time to practice inversions in English! Fill in the blank reformulating the sentences using inversion. Remember to use the "interrogative structure", although no question mark is added and the intonation is that of a normal statement.
By rosefirerising. C. Commons

1. Paco at no time said he was a student of History.

At no time he was a student of History.

2. He rarely travels by train at present.

Rarely by train at present.

3. He not only can speak English fluently now, but also accurately.

Not only English fluently now, but also accurately.

4. If he had known the trip was so long, he would have taken a plane.

the trip was so long, he would have taken a plane.

  

Now, we know what inversion consists of and the structure it follows. In next section, we will concentrate on the kinds of sentences that are frequently used with this structure. Come on, it's quite simple and easy! Remember that this structure is mainly used in formal English, and it is normally used to give emphasis to the sentence!
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