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Emphatic Inversions
53
Inversion
Emphatic Structures
- Emphasis (noun)
- Emphasize (verb)
- Emphatic (adjective)
To show special meaning or particular importance.
Used to make a sentence stronger.
What is inversion?
Normal sentence: You are tired. (The subject is 'you'. It's before the verb 'are'.)
Question form: Are you tired? (The verb 'are' is before the subject 'you'. They have changed places. This is called inversion.)
In most English verb tenses, when we want to use inversion, we just move the verb to before the subject.
If there's more than one verb, because a verb tense has auxiliary verbs for example, we move the first verb.
She had never seen such a beautiful sunset (before) .
Had she never seen such a beautiful sunset (before)? (INVERSION)
Let's add some Emphasis, Spice. Power to this sentence!
Never (before) had she seen such a beautiful sunset.
How to form an Emphatic (Inversion)
Adverb + Helping Verb + Subject
- Never have I gone to bed hungry.
- Rarely does she play tennis.
- Seldom does an artist produce such good work.
Adverbs modify/describe other adverbs, verbs and adjectives, they tell us:
- How something happened
- Degree
- Frequency
Negative Inversions
Negative Adverbials
No sooner did I arrive than the party ended.
No sooner = means Immediately after
No sooner = The second clause is preceded by than
Not only is she rich but she is also beautiful.
Not only = First clause followed by but....
What about when there is NO helping verb?
- I like to swim.
- Do I like to swim?
In this case we must add a helping verb DO as if we are asking a question.
Helping Verbs:
- do, did, does
- have, has, had
- am, is , was, were
Using the word "So" and "Such"
- We use "so" and "Such" to add more emphasis
- Normally we put at the START of a sentence
So nervous was I that I didn't say hello.
Note: When we use "so" the second clause is preceded by the word THAT.
ex: Such a nice person was he.