7.2.- Grammar: inversion of subject and verb

What pollution problems are there nowadays in your hometown?

What was the recording of the last listening activity about? 

What differences are there in following sets of sentences? 

Set 1:

Actually, I thought he had quite a pleasant voice.

Actually did I think he had quite a pleasant voice.

Actually I thought, did he have a pleasant voice.

 

Set 2:

It was over-ambitious, really, wasn’t it?

Really was it over-ambitious, wasn’t it?

 

Set 3:

Actually, they’ve now said that if this scheme doesn’t go ahead they’ll find another buyer for the land, so doing nothing with it isn’t an option, either.

 

Actually, now have they said that if this scheme doesn’t go ahead they’ll find another buyer for the land, so doing nothing with it isn’t an option, either.

Negative word or expression or Adverbial phrase or Adverb

Helping verbs

1.- Auxiliary verbs

2.- Modal verbs

Present simple: 

They seldom eat seafood at night.

Seldom do they eat seafood at night.

He seldom eats pizza in the morning.

Seldom does he eat pizza in the morning.

Past simple: 

He little knew about it.

Little did he know about it.

Regular form

I have never been to Australia.

Subject + Auxiliary verb + Adverb + Main Verb + Complement

Inversion to add emphasis

Never have I been to Australia.

Adverb or adverbial phrase + Auxiliary or modal verb + Subject + Main Verb + Complement.

She always goes to the cinema on Wednesday evening.

Always does she go to the cinema on Wednesday evening.

Collaborative online exercise about inversion

https://www.tolearnenglish.com/exercises/exercise-english-2/exercise-english-116807.php

We use inversion to emphasise what we're saying. It makes our sentence sound surprising or striking or unusual. It also sounds quite formal. If you don't want to give this impression, you can put the negative expression later in the sentence in the normal way:

• Seldom have I seen such beautiful work.
  ('Seldom' is at the beginning, so we use inversion. This sentence emphasizes what beautiful work it is.)
• I have seldom seen such beautiful work.
  ('Seldom' is in the normal place, so we don't use inversion. This is a normal sentence with no special emphasis.)

Here are some negative adverbs and adverb phrases that we often use with inversion:

Hardly	Hardly had I got into bed when the telephone rang.
Never	Never had she seen such a beautiful sight before.
Seldom	Seldom do we see such an amazing display of dance.
Rarely	Rarely will you hear such beautiful music.
Only then	Only then did I understand why the tragedy had happened.
Not only ... but	Not only does he love chocolate and sweets but he also smokes.
No sooner	No sooner had we arrived home than the police rang the doorbell.
Scarcely	Scarcely had I got off the bus when it crashed into the back of a car.
Only later	Only later did she really think about the situation.
Nowhere	Nowhere have I ever had such bad service.
Little	Little did he know!
Only in this way	Only in this way could John earn enough money to survive.
In no way	In no way do I agree with what you're saying.
On no account	On no account should you do anything without asking me first.

Inversion in statements with full adverbial clauses at the beginning.

Not until	Not until I saw John with my own eyes did I really believe he was safe.
Not since	Not since Lucy left college had she had such a wonderful time.
Only after	Only after I'd seen her flat did I understand why she wanted to live there.
Only when	Only when we'd all arrived home did I feel calm.
Only by	Only by working extremely hard could we afford to eat.

We only use inversion when the adverb modifies the whole phrase and not when it modifies the noun: Hardly anyone passed the exam. (No inversion.)

Source: https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion.html

Collaborative Online Exercise about Word Order Inversion on Wordwall

https://wordwall.net/resource/56043689

Collaborative exercise 1 on page 57

Inversion online exercise

https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion-exercise-1.html