Form
Negative Adverbial + Auxiliary + Subject + Verb
(e.g., Never, Not only, No sooner, Rarely, Seldom, Little)
Normal: I have never seen such a beautiful sunset.
Inverted: Never have I seen such a beautiful sunset.
Normal: She not only missed the train, but she also lost her ticket.
Inverted: Not only did she miss the train, but she also lost her ticket.
Meanings
Inverting the subject and the auxiliary verb.
Inversion means changing the normal word order of Subject + Verb to Verb + Subject. We do this by moving the auxiliary verb before the subject, just like forming a question.
| Normal Statement | Question Form (Inversion) |
|---|---|
| You have seen it. | Have you seen it? |
| She works here. | Does she work here? |