Here are some exercises on negative inversion, as promised rather a long time ago.
If you need to revise the basic principles, I suggest you look at my post
Making sense of negative inversion. Hopefully!
Making sense of negative inversion. Hopefully!
Two warm-up exercises to remind you of the principles
Exercise 1 - Fill the gaps using the words in the box. ?
1. | Hardly ever an athlete won so many medals in such a short time. | |
2. | Little we realise what a social faux-pas we had committed. | |
3. | Scarcely the match started when the trouble began. | |
4. | Only by standing on tip-toe I able to see anything at all. | |
5. | Seldom can an have heard a better interpretation of this symphony. | |
6. | Hardly had the controversial opera when people began to walk out. | |
7. | Only if we leave now we be in time to catch the train. | |
8. | Never have I seen people turn out for this event. | |
9. | Rarely a remark have been more ill-judged. | |
10. | Only did it become clear what the extent of the damage was. | |
11. | Barely had we had time to pack up the picnic things the heavens opened | |
12. | No sooner had we asked for a quieter room room, we were given one. |
Exercise 2 - Fill the gaps using the words in the box. ?
1. | At no time he seem to realise what an idiot he was making of himself. | |
2. | At no time before have I heard arrant nonsense. | |
3. | Nowhere do they charge you so much for water | |
4. | On no should you miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. | |
5. | Under no must this door be left unlocked. | |
6. | Not she apologises for what she said will I speak to her again. | |
7. | Not if they halved the price would I buy such a heap of old rubbish. | |
8. | Not for all the money in the world I do what you're suggesting. | |
9. | Not do I know you're wrong, but I can also prove you're wrong. | |
10. | Neither was the food up to standard was the service particularly good. | |
11. | Everyone except me got soaked. Not for do I always carry an umbrella. | |
12. | No am I going to jump into that icy cold water! |
Random Idea English
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com
Two practice exercises
Practice Exercises - general principles- Unless shown otherwise in the brackets (), start each sentence with a capital letter and finish with a full stop, but don't add any other punctuation.
- Remember that when there is more than one auxiliary verb, only the first one is inverted. Any others stay with the main verb.
- If you 'copy and paste', be careful not add any extra spaces; the program needs you to be exactly right: it's not very clever.
- You can check your answers at any time - click on Check
- Clicking the clue buttons ? (at the moment hidden) will give you the next word, but try not to use them unless you get really stuck. You will need to click on 'show' first.
- If you want to empty all the boxes and start again, click on the Clear button.
Exercise 3 - Make inverted sentences from the sentences given, using the words in brackets ().
1. | You shouldn't tell him about my trip to China. (On no ...) | ||
2. | You are not going to get me to eat that! (No way ... !) | ||
3. | I have seldom seen such a brilliant goal. (Seldom ...) | ||
4. | Such a hurricane has rarely happened in Hereford. (Hardly ever ...) | ||
5. | I wouldn't want to hurt your feelings for all the world. (Not ...) | ||
6. | They were never aware of the danger that threatened them. (At no time ...) | ||
7. | This must not leak out to the press. (Under ...) | ||
8. | He wasn't rich and he wasn't handsome. (Neither ...) | ||
9. | We haven't often witnessed such artistry. (Rarely ...) | ||
10. | The bridge collapsed as soon as we managed to get across. (No sooner ...) | ||
11. | We were only able to cross the border by offering him a bribe. (Only ...) | ||
12. | Immediately he opened his mouth he started complaining about everything. (Barely ... before ...) | ||
Random Idea English
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com
Exercise 4 - Make inverted sentences from the sentences given, using the words in brackets ().
1. | She has no idea what a surprise she's going to get. (Little ... know) | ||
2. | The bell had barely started to ring when the children rushed out of the classroom. (Scarcely) | ||
3. | He didn't start his speech until there was absolute silence in the hall (Not ...) | ||
4. | We will only be able to accept your offer if we are offered free delivery (Only ...) | ||
5. | It is with good reason that Edinburgh is known as the Athens of the North (Not for ...) | ||
6. | We have never been so well wined and dined in our lives (Never ...) | ||
7. | She didn't break the news of her engagement until after dinner (Only ...) | ||
8. | We weren't told that we would need our passports. (At no time ...) | ||
9. | They don't charge you as much for water anywhere else. (Nowhere else ...) | ||
10. | I wouldn't fly with them again even if they offered me a free flight. (Not even ...) | ||
11. | We had barely entered the shop when an assistant jumped on us. (Hardly ... when ...) | ||
12. | He is both charming and very rich. (Not only ..., but ... also ...) | ||
Random Idea English
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com
http://random-idea-english.blogspot.com
Answers
- Ex 1 1. has, 2. did, 3. had, 4. was, 5. audience, 6. started, 7. will, 8. so many, 9. can, 10. then, 11. before, 12. than
- Ex 2 1. did, 2. such, 3. else, 4. account, 5. circumstances, 6. until, 7. even, 8. would, 9. only, 10. nor, 11. nothing, 12. way
- Ex 3
- 1. On no account should you tell him about my trip to China.
- 2. No way are you going to get me to eat that!
- 3. Seldom have I seen such a brilliant goal.
- 4. Hardly ever has such a hurricane happened in Hereford.
- 5. Not for all the world would I want to hurt your feelings.
- 6. At no time were they aware of the danger that threatened them.
- 7. Under no circumstances must this leak out to the press.
- 8. Neither was he rich nor was he handsome.
- 9. Rarely have we witnessed such artistry.
- 10. No sooner had we managed to get across than the bridge collapsed.
- 11. Only by offering him a bribe were we able to cross the border.
- 12. Barely had he opened his mouth before he started complaining about everything.
- Ex 4
- 1. Little does she know what a surprise she's going to get.
- 2. Scarcely had the bell started to ring when the children rushed out of the classroom.
- 3. Not until there was absolute silence in the hall did he start his speech.
- 4. Only if we are offered free delivery will we be able to accept.
- 5. Not for nothing is Edinburgh known as the Athens of the North.
- 6. Never in our lives have we been so well wined and dined.
- 7. Only after dinner did she break the news of her engagement.
- 8. At no time were we told that we would need our passports.
- 9. Nowhere else do they charge you so much for water.
- 10. Not even if they offered me a free flight would I ever fly with them again.
- 11. Hardly had we entered the shop when an assistant jumped on us.
- 12. Not only is he charming, but he is also very rich.
Printer friendly post
You can make a teacher copy with answers by clicking on 'Show All'. Make sure you 'Clear All' before printing student copies. Or you can print normally and the answers will appear on a separate page (Page 5), after the exercises (pages 2-4). I strongly recommend doing a Print Preview first. You might want to change your margins and you certainly won't want to print every page.
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