Invert The Subject And Verb With Negatives

The subject and verb can also be inverted after certain negatives and related expressions. When negative expressions, such as no, not, or never, come at the beginning of a sentence, the subject and verb are inverted.

Not once did I miss a question.
Never has Mr. Jones taken a vacation.
At no time can the woman talk on the telephone.

In the first example, the negative expression not once causes the subject I to come after the helping verb did. In the second example, the negative word never causes the subject Mr. Jones to come after the helping verb has. In the last example, the negative expression at no time causes the subject woman to come after the helping verb can.

Certain words in English, such as hardly, barely, scarcely, and only, act like negatives. If one of these words comes at the beginning of a sentence, the subject and verb are also inverted.

Hardly ever does he take time off.
(This means that he almost never takes time off.)
Only once did the manager issue overtime paychecks.
(This means that the manager almost never issued overtime paychecks.)

In the first example, the “almost” negative expression hardly ever causes the subject he to come after the helping verb does. In the second example, the “almost negative” expression only rarely causes the subject manager to come after the helping verb did.

When a negative expression appears in front of a subject and verb in the middle of a sentence, the subject and verb are also inverted. This happens often with the negative words neither and nor.

I do not want to go, and neither does Tom.
The secretary is not attending the meeting, nor is her boss.

In the first example, the negative neither causes the subject Tom to come after the helping verb does. In the second example, the negative nor causes the subject boss to come after the verb is.

The following example shows how this sentence pattern could be tested in structure questions on the TOEFL test:

Example from the Paper and Computer TOEFL® Tests
Only in extremely dangerous situations ____ stopped.
(A) will be the printing presses
(B) the printing presses
(C) the printing presses will be
(D) will the printing presses be

In this example, you should notice that the sentence begins with the negative only, so an inverted subject and verb are needed. Answer (D) contains a correctly inverted subject and verb, with the helping verb will, the subject printing presses, and the main verb be, so answer (D) is the best answer