This document discusses various types of inversion in English grammar, including inversion in yes/no questions, wh-questions, tag questions, and with words like neither, nor, so, such, here, and there. It provides examples to illustrate inversion with auxiliary verbs, do-support, question words, adverbs, adverb particles, and adverbials of place. The document is intended as a reference for students at the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam on the topic of inversion in English.

1. Diplomatic Acedemy of Vietnam
English Faculty
1

2. Diplomatic Acedemy of Vietnam
English Faculty
(Part 1)
1. Lê Thị Thúy Phương (TA39B)
2. Trần Thị Quỳnh Như (TA39B)
3. Tạ Thu Trang (TA39A)
4. Nguyễn Thị Huyền Trang (TA39A)
2

3. 3

4. What is inversion?
4

5. Why we
use
inversion
?!?!?!?!?!?!
5

6. Inversion in question.
Yes/No
question
Wh-question
Tag
question
6

7. Inversion with Yes/No question
1.Statement with be, have and modal verbs can be turned
into Yes/No questions by inversion.
E.g:
Statement: He is leaving.
Question: Is he leaving?
Inversion.
Longman English grammar_L.G.Alexander (chapter 13, page 250)
7

8. More examples
Question
Am I late?
Was he going?
Has he won?
Can she swim?
Will it rain?
Normal sentences
I am late.
He was going.
He has won.
She can swim.
It will rain.
Longman English grammar_L.G.Alexander (chapter 13, page 249)
8

9. Inversion with Yes/No question
2. With all other verbs, we form Yes/No
question with do/does in the simple
present and did in the simple past.
Longman English grammar, self-study edition with key_L.G.Alexander (page 188)
9

10. Examples
1.Statement: We turn left here.
Question: Do we turn left here?
Longman English grammar, self-study edition with key_L.G.Alexander (page 188)
10

11. Examples
Normal sentences
They dance well.
He works well.
They ran fast.
Question
Do they dance well?
Does he work well?
Did they run fast?
Longman English grammar_L.G.Alexander (chapter 13, page 249)
11

12. Note
The whole subject comes after the auxiliary,
however long it is:
E.g:
Can everyone in the room hear me?
Does anyone in the room agree?
Longman English grammar_L.G.Alexander (chapter 13, page 250)
12

13. Who(m)
Question-words
Whose
How
What
Which
Where
When
Why
Longman English grammar_L.G.Alexander (chapter 13, page 262)
13

14. Inversion with Wh-question
In the question of this kind, inversion with the
auxiliary must occur after the question-word.
Form:
Question word + an auxiliary verb + the subject?
Longman English grammar_L.G.Alexander (chapter 13, page 262)
14

15. 15

16. Examples
Question
word
Where
How
What
Auxiliary
do
does
did
Subject
people
the radio
the guerrillas
Verb
meet?
work?
say?
Oxford English Practical Grammar Intermediate (page 88)
16

17. Note:
If there is more than one auxiliary verb, only the first
one comes before the subject.
E.g:
I should have said something.
Should I have said something?
Oxford English Practical Grammar Intermediate (page 88)
17

18. Inversion with tag question
 Form:
Positive statement + negative tag.
The children can swim, can’t they?
Negative statement + positive tag.
It isn’t very warm, is it?
Oxford English Practical Grammar Intermediate (page 102)
18

19. notes
1.The answer yes means that the positive is true, and no
mean the negative is true.
E.g:
- Mark works for Zedco, doesn’t he? Yes, he does.
(He works for Zedco.)
- Melanie doesn’t eat meat, does she? Yes, she does.
(She eats meat.)
Oxford English Practical Grammar Intermediate (page 102)
19

20. notes
2.After a request with an imperative, we can use can you? or
could you?
E.g:
-Wait a moment, can you?
- Give me an example, could you?
Oxford English Practical Grammar Intermediate (page 102)
20

21. notes
3. After Don’t... the tag is will you?
E.g: Don’t make any noise, will you?
After Let’s... we use shall we?
E.g: Let’s sit in the garden, shall we?
Oxford English Practical Grammar Intermediate (page 102)
21

22. 1. Tom never goes to concerts. Neither/ nor does
his wife.
2. Ann hasn’t any spare time. Neither/ nor did I.
3. “I can’t understand a word of it.” – “neither can I.”
4. He didn’t remember and neither did I.
A practical English grammar 4th edition
A.J Thomson, A.V.Martinet (page 115)
22

23. Inversion with neither, nor and so
* Neither, nor:
negative additions to negative remarks
are made with this form:
neither/nor + auxiliary + subject
A practical English grammar 4th edition
A.J Thomson, A.V.Martinet (page 115)
23

24. E.g:
1. A: John drives a car.
B: So does Bob.
2. A: My car was washed this
morning.
B: So was mine.
a university English grammar_ R.Quirk and
S.Greenbaun (page 296)
24

25. SO
Affirmative additions to affirmative
remarks can be made by:
So + auxiliary + subject
A practical English grammar 4th edition
A.J Thomson, A.V.Martinet (page 115)
25

26. 26

27. The usage of “neither”, “nor” and “so”
27
“neither” and “nor” “so”
“I don’t like John.”
“neither/nor does my
sister.”
“I like John.”
“so does my sister.”

28. Note
We use “nor” and “neither” before a
positive verb to agree with something
negative that has just been said. And vice
versa with “so”.
(Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary _page 1038)
28

29. In informal English, we can say:
“I don’t know.”
“Me neither.”
(Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary _page 1024)
29

30. Inversion with “so” and “such”
+) So
Form:
So + Adj (+that)
(Longman English Grammar_L.G.Alexander_Longman_p 143)
30

31. 31

32. Inversion with “so” and “such”
+) Such
Form:
Such (+that)
(Longman English Grammar_L.G.Alexander_Longman_p143)
32

33. (Longman English Grammar_L.G.Alexander_Longman_p 143) 33

34. Note
E.g: Had such a fright that he fainted.
 Had so great a fright that he fainted.
(Illustrated Oxford Dictionary_D.Kindersley Limited_Oxford University_
p862)
so great = such
34

35. Note:
An emphatic fronting of the comp-element,
accompanied by inversion of subject and
operator, is sometimes found in formal
(especially literacy) English.
(A University Grammar of English_R.Quick, S.Greenbaum_Longman_p 335)
35

36. Compare so and such in normal and
inverted sentences.
Normal sentences Inversion
- He reacts so quickly
(that) no one can match
him.
-They are such wonderful
players (that) no one can
beat them.
-So quickly does he react
(that) no one can match
him.
- Such wonderful players
are they (that) no one can
beat them.
(Longman English Grammar_L.G.Alexander_Longman_p 28) 36

37. Inversion after adverbs
Sometimes the normal subject-verb order in
a sentence is reversed if a sentence begins
with an adverb.
Longman English grammar-L.G.Alexander
(page 143)
37

38. A practical English grammar_4th
edition_A.J.Thomson and A.V.Martinet (page
54/55)
Adverb - Initial
out
over
down
here
round
there
away off
….
38

39. Inversion after adverbs of place like “here”
and “there”
After here, there and the noun subject
comes after the verb. This is common with
verbs of motion, such as come and go.
Longman English grammar-L.G.Alexander
(page 143)
39

40. Example
E.g 1: There goes the last train!
E.g 2: Here comes the taxi!
Longman English grammar-L.G.Alexander
(page 143)
40

41. Note 1
This kind of inversion is common after “be”
when we are offering things or identifying
location (often with a plural subject):
E.g: Here is a cup of tea for you.
Here is your letters.
Longman English grammar-L.G.Alexander
(page 143)
41

42. Note 2
Inversion does not occur if the subject
is a pronoun.
E.g: Here it comes.
There she goes.
Here you are.
Longman English grammar-L.G.Alexander
(page 143)
42

43. Inversion after here.
Eg 1:
“Tom is here.”
It means he in this
room/building/town/
etc.
Eg 2:
“Here is Tom.”
It means that he has just
appeared or that we have
just found him.
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and
A.V.Martinet (page 54/55)
43

44. Inversion after “here”
Eg 1:
“Tom comes here.”
It means that it is
his habit to come to
this place.
Eg 2:
“Here comes Tom.”
It implies that he is just
arriving/ has just arrived
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and A.V.Martinet (page
54/55)
44

45. Inversion with there
1. It’s used for emphasis in calling attention.
E.g: There goes the bell.
2. It’s used for identity.
E.g: There is someone at the door.
(Illustrated Oxford Dictionary, page 862)
(A Practical English Grammar A.J.Thomson and Martinet, nxb văn hóa thông tin,
page 151)
45

46. More examples
46

47. 47
 Let’s see and feel the video.

48. 48
back, down, off, up, etc.
What
are these
words?

49. Inversion after
adverb particles
Longman English Grammar (L.G. Alexander), p. 143
49

50.  Preposition (+pronoun, noun…)
 Particle (+verb=>phrasal verb)
Adverbial particle (adverb particle)
(+verb=> adverb of position, movement)
Adverb # adverbial particle
Oxford advanced learner’s Dictionary + Oxford Collocation
50

51. E.g: Down came the rain and up went the
umbrella.
Longman English Grammar (L.G. Alexander), p. 143
51

52. E.g 2: Down fell a
dozen apples
E.g 3: Away went
the runners.
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and A.V.Martinet
(page 54/55)
52

53. Note!
Inversion does not occur if the
subject is a pronoun.
Longman English Grammar (L.G. Alexander), p. 143
53

54. E.g:
1. We use: Away they went.
Not use: Away went they.
2. We use: Round and round it flew.
Not use: Round and round flew it.
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson
and A.V.Martinet (page 54/55)
54

55. Inversion after adverbials
of place.
After adverbials of place with verbs of
position (e.g. lie, live, sit, stand…) or
motion (e.g. come, go, rise…), the noun
subject can follow the verb.
Longman English Grammar (L.G. Alexander), p.
1545 3

56. E.g.
- At the top of the hill stood the tiny
chapel.
Adv V
- In the fields of poppies lay the dying
soldiers.
Adv V
Longman English Grammar (L.G. Alexander), p. 143
56

57. note
This inversion also occurs
in the passive with other
verbs.
E.g: In the distance could be seen the
purple mountain.
Longman English Grammar (L.G. Alexander), p. 143
57

58. The adverbs: away, down, in, off, out, over,
round, up, etc… can be followed by a verb of
motion + a noun subject.
E.g 1: Round and round flew the plane.
Adv V
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and
A.V.Martinet (page 54/55)
58

59.  In written English, adverbials introduced by
preposition (down, in, on, over, out of…) can
be followed by verbs indicating position
(crouch, hang, lie, sit, stand,…); or by verbs
of motion; or by verbs such as be born, die,
live and sometimes other verbs.
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and
A.V.Martinet (page 54/55)
59

60. (1) From the rafter hung strings of onions.
E.g:
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and A.V.Martinet (page
54/55)
60

61. E.g.
(2) In the doorway stood a man with a gun.
(3) On a perch beside him sat a blue parrot.
(4) Over the wall came a shower of stones.
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and A.V.Martinet
(page 54/55)
61

62. The first three of these examples could also
be expressed by a participle and the verb be:
(1)Hanging from the rafters were strings of
onions.
(2)Standing in the doorway was a man with a
gun.
(3)Sitting on the perch beside him was a blue
parrot.
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson and
A.V.Martinet (page 54/55)
62

63. But a participle could not be used with
the last example (4) unless the shower
of stones lasted for some time.
A practical English grammar_4th edition_A.J.Thomson
and A.V.Martinet (page 54/55)
63

64. Note
Inversion does not occur if the subject is a
pronoun.
E.g.
- At the top of the hill it stood our against
the sky.
Adv
Longman English Grammar (L.G. Alexander), p. 143
64

65. 65

66. I) Supply the correct form of the verb. Rewrite
each using the ordinary word order.
1) So violent that all the trees were uprooted.
2) Such was his strength that he could bend iron
bars.
3) On the south side, by the entrence to the rose
garden, is there a bed of fine magnolias.
4) At the top of the hill, did the tiny chapel stand.
5) Came down and the umbrellas went up the rain.

67. II) Correct the mistakes in each of the sentences
given below if necessary.
1) Correct
2) I fell
3) goes
4) Correct
5) Correct

68. III) Rewrite the following sentences, using the
inverted order.
1) So little did he know about her that he was
not even sure of her name.
2) Such was his strength that he could bend iron
bars.
3) On the south side , by the entrence to rose
garden, is there the bed of fine magnolias.
4) At the top of the hill did the tiny chaplel
stand.
5) 10) So old was the papyrus we didn’t dare to
touch it.

69. IV)Read the conversation. Then look at the
answer in each other space.
1) who’s
2) don’t
3) not
4) has
5) haven’t
7) they
8) which
9) don’t
10) neither
11) doesn’t
12) let’s
1) who’s
2) don’t
3) not
4) has
5) haven’t
6) so

70. V) Andrew has just met Jessca at a party. They are
finding out that they leave a lot in common. Put in the
structures with “so” and “neither”.
1) neither am I
2) neither can I
3) so am I
4) so do I
5) neither have I
6) so would I
(Oxford practice grammar Intermediate with test_J.East wood_Oxford_
p 105)