← English Grammar

Word order and inversion

Easy · TOEFL style

The rules
  • After a negative or limiting word at the start of a sentence, put the helping verb before the subject: Never have I seen such a bright comet.
  • Hardly … when and no sooner … than both put had before the subject: No sooner had we sat down than the bell rang.
  • So and neither repeat the helping verb and then the subject: I can swim, and so can my brother.
  • After here, there or a place phrase at the start, the verb can come before a noun subject: Here comes the bus.
  • In a question the helping verb comes before the subject, but a question inside a sentence keeps normal order: Can you tell me where the library is?
  • Adverbs like always and never go before the main verb but after be, and an adverb does not go between a verb and its object: She always speaks English very well.
  • Enough comes after an adjective or adverb but before a noun: The room was big enough, but there were not enough chairs.

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