Speakout Advanced p 118. Inversion. More Extra Grammar

Inversion is used to give emphasis.
Common phrases are: not only, no sooner, ...

INVERSION

Inversion involves reversing the normal order of subject and verb. There are two types of inversion:

1- an auxiliary verb is placed before the subject, and the rest of the verb comes after:

Only yesterday did I realize what was going on.

2- the whole verb comes before the subject. This happens:

2.a) mainly after adverbial expressions of place (only for literary or descriptive writing)

On the big bed lay a young boy.

Under a tree was sitting one of the peasants.

Round the corner came the thief.

2.b) in literary or formal style after as (when the subjects are different):

France is a founder member of the EU. Belgium is a founder member too.

France is a founder member of the EU, as is Belgium.

2.c) after here and there in spoken English:

Here is your watch.

There comes a time in everyone’s life when a big decision has to be taken.

2.d) after direct speech (especially when the subject is not a pronoun):

“Let's go,” shouted the boy.

Inversion is common:

A- in ordinary spoken and written English in:

→ Questions:

→ after: here, there, neither / nor and so.

→ to add dramatic effect in expressions such as:

Did you go climbing last weekend?

Here is your watch.

I opened the door and there stood Michael, all covered in mud.

I love bungee jumping. So do I.

The unions do not want a strike and neither / nor do the management.

No way would I ever go on a trip like that!

Not in a million years would I agree to cross Africa on a motorbike!

B- in written English or in a very formal spoken style of speaking (public speeches, for ex) in the following cases:

→ After expressions which have a negative or restrictive meaning when they are at the beginning of a sentence to give emphasis. These expressions are:

- little
Little did she understand what the conversation was about.

- To express that one thing happened immediately after another:

hardly*...when
Hardly had I arrived when I had a problem to cope with.

scarcely ... when

barely...when

no sooner... than
No sooner had I arrived than I had a problem to cope with.

* 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)

- with seldom , rarely and never when used in comparisons:

seldom
Seldom had I seen such a remarkable creature.

rarely
Rarely could she have been faced with so difficult a choice.

never (before)
Never have I felt better.

- with expressions containing the word only:

Only
Only after a year did I begin to see the results.

Only then did he understand what she meant.

Only now do I see what you mean.

Only later did she really think about the situation.

Only by working extremely hard could we afford to eat.

Not only..., but (also)
Not only did we lose all our money, but we also came close to losing our lives.

- with expressions containing the word no or not:

At no time
At no time was the President aware of what was happening.

In no circumstances
In no circumstances can customers' money be refunded.

Under no circumstances
Under no circumstances can customers' money be refunded.

In no way
In no way can she be held responsible.

On no account
On no account are visitors allowed to feed the animals.

On no condition
On no condition will the company bear responsibility for lost property.

No longer
No longer will she accept these poor conditions.

Nowhere
Nowhere have I ever had such bad service.

Not since
Not since Lucy left college had she had such a wonderful time.

Not until
Not until I heard my name did I believe I had won the race.

→ After so, such, to such a degree (in result clauses) when they are at the beginning of a sentence:

She was so exhausted that she went straight to bed.

So exhausted was she that she went straight to bed.

He played the tune so badly that nobody recognised it.

So badly did he play the tune that nobody recognised it.

The extent of the damage was such that the car was a total write-off.

Such was the extent of the damage that the car was a total write-off.

→ in conditional sentences with the omission of if:

Should you change your mind, let us know.

Were she my daughter, I would suggest the following course of action.

Had I known what was going to happen, I would never have left her alone.

→ to express hopes and wishes starting with may:

May the force be with you!




transformation exercises and key.

Speakout Advanced p 118. INVERSION - EXPLANATION

INVERSION -  EXPLANATION

We invert the subject and auxiliary verb in the sentence to give emphasis. This happens:

• After certain expressions when they are at the beginning of a sentence.

Seldom	In / Under no circumstances
Rarely	Never
Scarcely (ever)… when	Nowhere
Hardly (ever)… when	Never before
No sooner… than	Not only… but also
On no occasion	In no way
Nor / Neither	Not even once
On no account	Only in this way
Little	Barely

Rarely do we see him these days.

No sooner had we got into the house than he phoned us.

• When the following expressions begin a sentence, we use inversion in the main clause.

Only after, only by, only if, only when, not till / until, not since.

Only after he had graduated, did he start looking for a job.

Only if you invite her, will she come to your party.

Not until all tests had been completed, were we told the results.

• After so, such, to such a degree (in result clauses) when they are at the beginning of a sentence.

So careful is he that he never makes any mistakes.

Such a brilliant student was he that he was offered a scholarship.

• With should, were, had in conditionals at the beginning of the sentence when “if” is omitted.

Type 1: Should you see him, tell him to call me. (= If you should see him…)

Type 2: Were I you, I would cancel my trip. (= If I were you…)

Type 3: Had he known, he would have made arrangements. (= If he had known…)

• After so, neither / nor, as when expressing agreement.

“I hate horror films.” “So do I.” (“So” is used to agree with an affirmative statement.)

“Jane hasn’t returned our calls.” “Neither / Nor has her husband.” (“Neither / Nor” are used to agree with a negative statement).

His colleagues respected him as did his boss.

The subject and the main verb are also usually inverted in the following structures:

• After adverbs of place or time

Here comes the bride!

Away ran the thief!

• In Direct speech when the reporting verb comes after the quote and the subject is a noun.

“I’ve never seen him,” said Helen

Speakout Advanced p 118. Keys and Vocabulary

Ex 6A
KEY
It was the same people, long journey on motorbikes, experience of a lifetime, (but different journey- down through Europe and Africa, rather than around the world).

Ex 6B
KEY
The word order has been inverted (auxiliary +subject + verb clause)
1 If the first journey had not been such a success, they never would have considered the second.
2 If he had been a more experienced rider, he might not have fallen so often.

Ex 6C
KEY
Formal
Had they known how difficult the journey would prove, they might never have started.

Ex 6D
KEY
Not only did The Long Way Round journey challenge their view of the world, it also tested their physical endurance
Never before had they experienced such hospitality from complete strangers.

p 146
scarcely: /ˈskeəsli/ used to say that something happens immediately after something else happens. E.g. He had scarcely put the phone down when the doorbell rang. Scarcely had the game started when it began to rain.

p 147
Ex 1

lc) 



2e) 



3a) 



4d) 



5f) 



6b) 

Ex 2
KEY

1 Seldom have I seen him looking so miserable.
 


2 Correct. 



3 Under no circumstances should you leave the office. 



4 Had we known there would be a water shortage, we would have been more prepared. 



5 Only later did she realise her mistake. 



6 Correct. 



7 Correct.



8 Were they to have apologised more quickly, I might have forgiven them.

Ex 7A
KEY
1 Not until they were ready to depart did he think about leaving his family. 



2 Only then did I see the danger that we were in. 



3 No sooner had we left the tent than it collapsed. 



4 Had we thought about it more, we would have taken extra fuel. 



5 Never before had they ridden motorbikes for such extended distances. 



6 At no point did they consider giving up the expedition.

Speakout Advanced p 117. My Worst Flight Ever. Linking Devices

Connectors and Modifiers

1.            Appearance and reality.

At first sight … but in fact….

Apparently…but they were really/actually

The fact is that…

As a matter of fact…

2.            Developing an argument (sequence)

First... In the first place… To begin with…To start with… First of all…

Second… Secondly… In the second place… In addition to that… Apart from that… Besides…

Third… Finally… Lastly… Above all… In conclusion… All in all…(with everything considered). All in all, I would say John and I had a very nice trip.

All things considered, the flight wasn't so bad at first.

As if this were not enough, not only did the flight attendants never serve us any drinks, but they did not give any in-flight announcements either.

On top of all this, the airline lost my luggage!

To make matters worse, the plane that was to take us back to Palma was cancelled.

3.            Giving examples

For example… For instance… A case in point was a problem that developed during the flight.

4.            Contrast

Although… However,… At the same time… e.g. At the same time, we didn't want to take that plane.

After all, we didn't really have a choice

In spite of + noun phrase/ -ing/ the fact that…

Despite + noun phrase/ -ing/ the fact that…

5.            Balance

On one hand, the cabin crew was courteous. On the other hand, however,  in-flight entertainment was terrible.

6.            Cause and effect

Because of… e.g. We were worried in the morning because of the weather.

Caused by… Due to… e.g. The cancellation of the flight was due to the rain.

Consequently... As a result… In consequence…

For this reason… For these reasons… For one reason or another…

7.            Expressing personal opinion

For my part, I did not know that the maximum weight allowed was only 10 kg.

Personally… In my opinion… In my view…

As I saw it, we had no choice.

To my mind, their behaviour was unreasonable.

As far as I was concerned, that was very sound (reliable and sensible) advice.

So far as it concerned me…

8.            Modifying what is said or written

To agree

In general… As a rule… On the whole…  On the whole it was a good airline.

To agree to a certain extent

The passengers were right, in a way, but the airline had to consider the increase in the price of fuel.

In a sense the airline was the best in the country, but the way we were treated that day did not show that. In some sense I agreed with that passenger, but not entirely.

The captain was right up to a point.

To say that you are not very well informed

As far as I knew… . For all I knew… To the best of my knowledge… e.g. To the best of my knowledge, they were supposed to arrive yesterday.

To limit the argument

In those circumstances, the next suitable day for me to take a flight to New York was 30th October. At least…

But things being as they were, a riot on the plane was inevitable …

9.            Intensifying the statement

Clearly… Obviously… Of course… Needless to say… As everyone knows…

To point something out

In particular… Especially… Above all… . Let alone... Not to mention…  In other words… In any case…

10.         Referring to someone or something

With regard to…  e.g I spoke to the airline representative with regard to [as regards, in regard to, regarding] what we had to endure. As for the food, there was nothing to do but throw it away.

Speakout Advanced p 117. My Worst Flight Ever. Collocations

Sample Collocations adverb + adjective

To suggest that there should be a total ban on smoking is utterly ridiculous.

Dozens of homes have been completely destroyed in the floods.

Children get terribly excited when they fly for the first time.

He was awfully drunk. It was an embarrassment to have him there.

She's awfully pretty, don't you think? The most striking person on the plane!

She was absolutely starving so the flight attendant gave her some food

China is the most heavily populated country in the world.

Some pilots are highly qualified.                                                                               

This mistake is perfectly understandable.

The flight attendants were deeply hurt by the storm of abuse they received.

It was bitterly cold in the biting winds and after hours of sightseeing we were keen to find the quickest and easiest way back to our hotel.

We entered a richly decorated room for VIP passengers.                                          

Are you fully aware of the implications of your action?

She was wearing a brightly coloured dress, with red and yellow stripes.

When I talked to her she was understandably nervous — for several reasons, no doubt. If she missed that plane, she would have to wait for at least one more week.

Tourism is a particularly important business.

I started to wonder how I would get those 'excruciatingly painful and infuriating' cactus needles off of me.

I once had to endure an eight hour flight, seated between two people with hideously strong body odour

My worst flight was my last flight to California, on the way over someone had a heart attack and we had to make an emergency landing (I guess it was that passenger’s worst flight too). I was ok with the delay to save someone’s life but after adding on 3 hours to flight time I became ravenously hungry.

Everyone has a horror story about a bad flight on an airplane. I’ve been a flight attendant for 18 years and I’ve had some really bad flights, believe me — everything from truly terrifying weather to sickness and deaths on board. But one flight stands out in my memory for sheer misery.

Fully awake now and miserable at my conclusion that I will NEVER be able to sleep on a plane, I quickly stood up and walked to the bathroom.

I left the toilet still feeling utterly nauseous.

verb + adverb                                                                                      
A flight attendant whispered softly in another flight attendant's ear.                          
She placed the drinks gently on the trays.                                                                         
I vaguely remember that it was growing dark when we left.                                           
I was really hoping things went smoothly on the 7 Hour flight.                               
I do not usually feel poorly on a plane.
Having managed to uncomfortably sleep with a metal buckle in my lower back for about forty minutes, all of a sudden I was woken up by the in-flight announcements. Not the informative type but the scratch card type of announcements, which bothered me even more.
I truly felt that I was about to faint.
adjective + noun                                                                              
Flying gives me a real buzz
buzz: a strong feeling of pleasure, excitement or achievement. A buzz of excitement/expectation. She gets a buzz out of her work.You can sense the creative buzz in the city.
To say that we'll be landing on Jupiter in 2010 is utter nonsense.                   
The flight attendants gave us red roses, which came as a complete surprise.           
His sudden death came as a terrible shock to all passengers.                                      
It was an awful shame that she was unable to come with me on this flight.

She was in absolute agony and obviously very frightened. She told the flight attendant in floods of tears, “I just can't stand this any more”.

I've had this achy pain throughout my entire body for the last two hours.

I am not surprised that food poisoning is becoming a major problem.

The flight attendant seemed to be a caring person.

All passengers liked that flight attendant because of her boundless enthusiasm.

We arrived at the gate about 5 p.m. for our 11-hour flight back to the United States, only to discover that we had a half-hour mechanical delay.

The passenger needed further medical attention and needed to be taken off the plane.

As the passengers disembark, they hurled endless verbal abuse, threatened and pushed the crew members; one elderly passenger even spat in a crew member’s face.

As the plane pushed back and rolled along the runway, we said our belated farewells to the airport. Or so we thought.

Two hours later, we finally took off, praying for an uneventful flight, which somehow we knew was unlikely.

They handed out the trays, which consisted of a salad, a roll, revolting airplane chicken and a melted dessert.

 “I’m never flying this crappy airline again,” many said as they stormed off the plane.
I’ve never been able to sleep on planes, so flying through the night for ten hours only to arrive at 8AM with a full day ahead of me has proven to be a brutal combination over the years.