Page 152 - IELTS Preparation Grammar and Vocab

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Word order and emphasis
Inversion occurs after words and phrases with a 'negative' meaning
the negative adverbs never (before), rarely, seldom; barely/hardly/scarcely when/before; no sooner... than;
nowhere; neither, nor
Rarely have I met anyone with such enthusiasm.
No sooner had Maria walked through the door than she started to talk about her proposal.
hadn't met Maria before, and nor had the other members of the committee.
(See also Unit 17,2.3 for more on hardly, no sooner and scarcely.)
only + a time expression (e.g. after, later, then) or a prepositional phrase
Only after Maria threatened to withdraw her support did the council back down.
the prepositional phrases at no time, on no account, under/in no circumstances; in no way (or no way in
informal language):
At no time has she ever accepted payment for her educational work
She argued that under no circumstances should children from poorer backgrounds be made to pay for
music lessons.
expressions with not not only, not until, not since, not for one moment, not once, not a + noun:
Not only has she persuaded YCO members to give up their time, but she has also encouraged visiting
musicians to give free concerts in schools.
little with a negative meaning
Little did she realise when she set up the project that it would be so influential.
Inversion also occurs after:
time sequence adverbs such as first, next, now, then with be or come
And then came an invitation to be a special adviser to the government on music education.
If there is a comma (,) or an intonation break in speech after the adverb, normal word order is used:
Then, an invitation came from the government. (not Thenreamean-i9vitaben ...)
so + adjective ... that emphasising the adjective
So successful has Music in Schools been that those involved in music education around the world have visited
the city to see the project in action.
such + be ...that, emphasising the extent or degree of something
Such was her understanding of music education that the government wanted to draw on her expertise.
(= Her understanding of music education was such that ...)

2.4 Inversion in conditional sentences
In formal or literary English, we can use clauses beginning were, should and had, with inversion of subject and
verb, instead of a hypothetical conditional:
Were she ever to leave the orchestra, ... (= If she left ... or If she were to leave ...)
Were he here tonight, ... (= If he was/were here tonight...)
Should you need any more information about Music in Schools, ... (= If you need ...)
Had Maria not been around, ...(= If she had not been around ...)
In negative clauses with inversion, we don't use contracted forms:
Had Maria not set up the Music in Schools project ... (not Hadk-Nhafia-set-up ...)

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