GRAMMAR CLASSES , VIDEO CLASSES

Inversionana Jones: Video inversion lesson

Posted on October 20, 2014

This is a lesson plan based around clips from the Indiana

Jones films to teach inversion structures. Specifically the
following ones:

No sooner had I sat down than the phone rang.

Scarcely/hardly/barely do you enter the

restaurant when you smell the delicious food.

Part 1 Introducing the structures

Print out this handout and cut it up into separate words,

keeping the No sooner, hardly, barely, scarcely, than and
when cards for yourself. I laminated the words for future
use and printed the No sooner, hardly etc. parts on orange
paper.

Give out the cards to students in group and have them

order them into correct sentences. Either do this on a
central table where everyone can see, on the floor or have
the students come and blu-tac the sentences on the board.

As soon as I had sat down the phone started ringing.

As soon as you enter the restaurant you can smell the

delicious food.

As soon as we had stepped off the plane, it started raining.

Tell students that we can use inversion to express the same

thing as these sentences in 4 different ways. Now use the
No sooner/hardly/barely etc. cards to transform the
sentences. Be sure to draw their attention to the way in
which you invert the auxiliary verb or add it if its not in the
original sentence. Note: if this is a revision class have the
students do it themselves.

No sooner had I sat down, than the phone started ringing.

Barely do you enter the restaurant, when you can smell the
delicious food.

Scarcely had we stepped of the plane, when it started

raining.

Draw students attention to the use of than with no sooner

and when with the others. Have them copy the following
formula:
Inversion Phrase + aux verb + subject + verb

Hardly had I sat down

Part 2 Indiana Jones Clips

Now you can show them the Indiana Jones clips, tell them
to watch the action and look out for actions which can be
described using the structures:

No sooner had he swapped the sandbag for the

statue, than the temple began to collapse. Encourage
students to look for more.

Barely had the Nazis got on the boat when Indy escaped
on his motorbike. Encourage students to look for more.

Scarcely had the Nazi drunk from the fake Holy

Grail, when he grew old and disintegrated. Encourage
students to look for more.

There are hundreds of other video clips that can be used to

teach these structures, let me know which other ones you
find.

Follow up

Set a composition in which students need to describe an

exciting activity theyve done, encourage them to use the
structures to make a narrative more exciting.
https://freeenglishlessonplans.com/?s=inversion

teaching inversion guest post by Ricardo Barros

It has long bothered me that the use of

inversions in speaking is largely seen as unnatural.
Time and time again I would go to a training session or
overhear other teachers speaking and inversions would
come up in a mocking tone, as if using this particular
structure in speaking is hilarious in itself. In my
experience, inversions (and to be more specific,
inversions after negative adverbials) are commonly
presented in advanced course books (CEFR C1) as a
formal structure that should only be used in writing.

After some thorough research (by which I mean

watching loads of TV series), I realized that people use
inversions in speaking all the time. You might argue
that TV series are scripted and therefore the inversions
did originate in writing, but they are quite common on
reality shows as well. The more I paid attention, the
more I would come across inversions, in podcasts and
on the radio besides the ones I was seeing on TV. Here
are three examples from TV shows youll probably be
familiar with:

It is my belief, then, that students should be exposed to

inversions in both written and spoken discourse. This
can happen as early as Upper intermediate/CEFR B2.
Like any chunk of language or grammatical structure,
students will only be able to use inversions naturally if
it is presented (and practiced) many times during the
course of a semester or even multiple semesters.

The simplest way of using a snippet from a TV series to

introduce or practice inversions is to approach it as you
would with a regular listening activity followed by some
sort of language work. Some snippets lend themselves
to great personalized pre-viewing questions. Take, for
example, this episode from The Big Bang Theory, in
which Leonard and his friends are building a phone app.

1. Listening and speaking

You could begin by asking students lead-in questions

such as:

Does your mobile have apps? Which is your favourite?

If you could create an app for your mobile, what would
it do?

After students have discussed these questions and you

have got some feedback from them, set some while-
viewing questions, such as:

What kind of app are they trying to create?

Why is Sheldon banned from the group?
How does Penny propose he gets back in?

Check answers and then ask an after-viewing question

to wrap up this part of the lesson:

Would you be interested in buying their app if it cost

US$ 0,99? Why (not)?

2. Noticing and analysis

After youve made sure students have understood the
story, you can then draw students attention to
Leonards inversion:

Not only can you store your favourite equations, but

you can forward them to your friends. (towards the
end of the video)

Elicit from students how different this sentence is in

terms of word order and emphasis. After that, you can
introduce other adverbs / adverbials that are used to
make this type of inversion, possibly using your
coursebook.

3. Practice

A simple but effective way of practicing inversions is to

write five sentences that are meaningful to your group
of students. Ask students to rephrase the sentences
using inversions that start with the words in brackets.

I have never been to England. (never)

I can speak English and Spanish. (not only)
I rarely send emails to my friends. (rarely)
I will only move out of my parents house when I go to
university. (only when)
I dont go to the beach very often. (seldom)

The key here is that the sentences need to be

meaningful. Students are often able to do this type of
activity without even reading the full sentences. By
making them meaningful you can ask students to
discuss in pairs/trios whether these are true of false for
them, which will force them to actually read the
sentences and think about them. In addition, when
getting feedback, dont let students say things like
number two is true for me. Rather, ask them to say
the sentence using an inversion.

Another way to practice inversions more freely is to

give them a topic to talk about, such as their favourite
city. Give them some time to prepare what they are
going to say by asking them to think of the different
reasons they like that particular place, how many times
they have been there, what people can do there and so
on. Now ask students to come up with two inversions to
talk about that city:

Never before had I seen such great sights.

Not only are there great shops in London but also some
of the best museums in the world.

In pairs, students take turns telling each other about

their city. While doing so, they must use their two
inversions. Its important to give each student a time
limit, say, 3 minutes. If students stop speaking before
their time is up, their partner must ask him/her
questions to keep the conversation going. When the
pairs are done, rearrange students in different pairs and
ask them to retell their stories (now with a little less
time). You can finish it off by having students tell their
story to a third person, with even less time and without
looking at the paper where the inversions are written
down.

In this type of activity the planning helps students focus

on fluency and on using more sophisticated language.
Repeating their stories in less time will help them gain
confidence as well as allowing them to streamline their
discourse.
Ricardo Barros is a teacher and teacher trainer in
Jundia, So Paulo, Brazil. You can reach him at
ricbarros at gmail dot com.

Related Posts

http://www.luizotaviobarros.com/2013/03/how-to-teach-inversion.html

Inversion means putting the verb before the subject.

It is a literary technique in which the normal order of words is reversed, generally for
emphasis
or special effect. It makes a sentence sound striking or unusual. It also sounds quite
formal.
Sentences with inversion are less common in everyday English.
In a sentence with no special effect or emphasis, the normal order of words is
retained.

Example 1 : I have never seen such a beautiful rose.

Example 2 : Never have I seen such a beautiful rose.

In example 2 inversion is used to emphasise the fact that in your whole lifetime
you have not seen such a beautiful rose.

It is sometimes difficult to remember when inversion is or can be used.

Here are some guidelines and examples to help you.

In normal everyday English, inversion is used :

 To make questions : Does he? Can you?

After 'so' 'neither', 'nor' : So do I, neither do I, nor do I.

In written English, as well as in a very formal style, inversion can be used in

the following cases :

After negative adverbial expressions :

Under no circumstances can we accept credit cards.

In no way can he be held responsible.

At no time did she say she would come.

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

After adverbial expressions of place :

Round the corner came the postman.

On the doorstep was a bunch of flowers.

After 'seldom', 'rarely', 'never', and 'little' :

Seldom have I seen such a beautiful view.

Rarely did he pay anyone a compliment.

Never had I felt so happy.

Little did he imagine how dangerous it would be.

After 'hardly', 'scarcely', 'no sooner', when one thing happens

after another.

Hardly had I begun to speak when I was interrupted.

Scarcely had we started our meal when the phone rang.

 No sooner had I arrived than they all started to argue.

After adverbial expressions beginning with 'only' and 'not only' :

Only after the meeting did I realize the importance of the

subject.

Only when the plane landed safely did he calm down.

Not only was the car slow, it was also very uncomfortable.

Conditionals with inversions

In conditional sentences we can sometimes replace the 'if' with an
inversion:

Had I known it would be so difficult I would never have enrolled.

After exclamations with 'here' and 'there' :

Here comes the winner!

There goes all our money!

Why do we like this

structure activity about
inversion?
Structure: Expressing emphasis using Inversion: Inverted conditional
sentences without if: (Sentences beginning Were, Should, Had).

Level: Upper Intermediate Advanced

Author: Daniel Hermosilla

Being able to express inverted conditional statements in English is a sign of

an advanced level of linguistic competence as this structure is quite
complex and less commonly used in daily communication. At a high level
students need to be acquainted with it and activate it in a communicative
way.

We like Daniels proposal for learning it because he has managed to

introduce this complex structure in an easy and functional way avoiding
obscure grammar definitions and has provided situations or questions which
invite the students to activate the structure in a humorous way.

Enjoy!

Intro: Show the following expressions. They are used to emphasize a

condition:

WERE I

HAD I

SHOULD I

Model the structure by giving the following examples:

WERE I A GOOD SINGER, I WOULD SING YOU A SONNET.

 HAD I ONE EURO FOR EVERY TIME A STUDENT SAID I AM AGREE, I
WOULD BE A RICH TEACHER!

SHOULD I EVER VISIT INDONESIA I WILL SURELY TRY THEIR FAMOUS

WEASEL POO COFFEE.

Activity: Give the following situations to the students. Students to

express their opinion as in the previous examples:

If you were asked to give a speech in front of two thousand people, would you
do it?

If you went skinny-dipping and a stranger saw you, what would you do?

If you had the chance to ask God a single question, what would you ask him?

If someones underwear were showing, would you tell them?

If you were president, what would you change about your country?

If you could go to the moon, how and when would you like to go?

If you were told that you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do
today?

If you had won a million euros, what would you do?

Target language:

Had I won the lottery, I would have bought a super yacht.

Should I have the chance to visit god, I would ask him Why do babies die?

Were I to be president, I would give everyone one free beer a day.

Wrap up: Which of these conditional sentences refer to the present?

Which of them are unreal or hypothetical? In which situations do we use
such emphatic structures?

About the author of the activity:

Daniel is a TEFL trainer and an Oxbridge teacher for three years now. His
activities are functional, teacher friendly and straight to the point. Daniels
teaching style is analytical and effective, combining clear objectives with
good sense of humour.

Making sense of negative inversion. Hopefully!

Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few.
Winston Churchill, in tribute to the fighter-pilots of the Battle of Britain

This is one of the best-known examples of negative inversion in the English Language. And if you're
into effective speaking, you'll also notice an example of tripling.

Certificate exams often have a question concerning inversion with negative adverbials, often simply
referred to as negative inversion. Students can have problems with these constructions, and for this
reason at least one teacher (see link at the end) has publicly wondered if it's worth all the bother,
especially as you can speak perfect English without ever using a negative inversion.

But we all like a challenge, don't we? Both you as a student and me as a teacher, so let's have a shot
at mastering the little bugger, by taking it nice and slowly. It's only a technique after all; there's no
interpretation involved, it's not like choosing verb tenses for example. If you can ask a question, you
can do negative inversion. Well, more or less.

There's quite a lot to get through, so get yourself a nice cup of coffee, and when you're sitting
comfortably, we'll begin.

If you just want some practice without a lesson, you can try these practice exercises.

The good news is that you already know how to use inversion. In fact you probably use it every time
you speak English. It involves changing the word order of a sentence. Does that sound familiar?
1. Inversion in questions
Read about David and ask questions to go with the answers that follow them. Use the pronoun he for
David:

Have you heard the news? David has changed his job.

Why his job? (use Present Perfect)

Because he wanted better promotion pospects.

Where now?

He is working at ABC plc.

When his new job?

He started last week.

What have you inverted (changed their order)?

Which tense forms did you have to add an auxiliary verb to?

2. Negative and restrictive adverbials

It's the same idea with negative inversions. By adverbial I mean an adverb or adverb phrase. By
restrictive we mean it has a sense of limiting, for example - only. First look at these sentences and
identify the negative or restrictive adverbials. 'Copy and paste' them into the boxes, then check.

1. I have never heard such nonsense in all my life.

2. He'd hardly entered the room, than the lights went out.

3. He little realised the danger that he faced.

4. I found out only then that she was cheating me. (two words)
3. Inversion with negative and restrictive adverbials
Now do it yourself. Start the sentences with the negative adverbials, then do the inversion as you did
before with the questions, except that where the wh- (question) word was before, you now have an
adverbial.

1. I have never heard such nonsense in all my life.

such nonsense in all my life.

2. He had hardly entered the room, than the lights went out.

the room, than the lights went out.

3. He little realised the danger that he faced.

the danger that he faced.

4. I found out only then that that she was cheating me..

that she was cheating me.

4. Why, when and how do we use negative inversion?

1. Shifting the emphasis - We use these constructions when we want to emphasise the
negative adverbial by putting it at the beginning of the sentence. In English this is the most important
part of the sentence.
2. Dramatic effect - These constructions are often used to give dramatic effect.This is more
likely to be done in formal language, especially in creative writing. But see 'no way', and 'not for
nothing' below.
3. Effect on word order - Because word order in the sentence is of absolute importance in
English, we have to do something different to signal to the listener or reader that this doesn't work like
a normal SVO sentence - hence the inversion, which is mandatory.
4. Avoiding inversion - In spoken language, instead of using inversion, we usually use stress
or a different way of phrasing to emphasise the negative or restrictive element of what we are saying.

5. And that's really all there is to it?

Well nearly. But look at these sentences. Do they all look OK? Use your instinct and mark the
sentences 'OK' or 'Strange', then check.

OK Strange

1. Never have I heard such bad language. Y

2. Never have I been to England. x

3. Hardly do I know him. x

4. Hardly had he entered the room when he was jumped on. Y

5. Little did he realise the danger that he faced. Y

6. Nowhere can I see him. x

In fact we can't just make negative inversions willy-nilly. Negative inversions are only used with
certain patterns, but luckily the adverbials fall handily into a few groups each sharing a similar pattern.

Two of those 'strange' examples, by the way, were taken from a 'grammar' website suggesting that
these were model examples. So let's now look at these patterns.

Practice Exercises - general principles

1. Unless told otherwise, start each sentence with a capital letter and finish with a full stop, but
don't add any other punctuation.
2. Remember that when there is more than one auxiliary verb, only the first one is inverted. Any
others stay with the main verb.
3. 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.
4. You can check your answers at any time - click on Check
5. Clicking the clue buttons ? will give you the next word, but try not to use them unless you get
really stuck.
6. If you want to empty all the boxes and start again, click on the Clear button.

Pattern 1. Negative inversion with adverbs of frequency.

Look at these sentences, and answer the questions

Never have I tasted such a delicious meal

Rarely can a young chef have had success so young.

Hardly ever has a competition been won so early on in the game.

Seldom has a simple omelette tasted better.

1. What aspect (tense forms) do they use?

2. What structures come after the verb in these examples? Complete these alternatives.

1. ... (a) + adjective + noun

2. ... + adjective / adverb

 3. ... a adjective (e.g. better)

Practice 1 Following these rules, make a new sentence using negative inversion from each sentence
below.

1. I had never felt so insulted.

2. A young pianist will rarely have been given such an accolade.

3. A young writer's second novel has seldom been more eagerly awaited.

4. The premiere of a new work will hardly ever have been so warmly
applauded.

Note: this pattern with a perfect tense and so / such or a comparative is probably the most common
pattern in British English. All the examples in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, for instance,
follow this pattern.
But you can also sometimes see sentences beginning, for example, 'Seldom do ...' or 'Rarely will ...'
(or vice versa) plus a normal verb phrase; Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary has this
example: 'Seldom do we receive any apology when mistakes are made.'

Pattern 2. Negative inversion with adverbs of time meaning 'only just' or 'immediately after'.
Look at these sentences:

No sooner had he finished dinner, than she walked through the door.

Scarcely had I got out of bed, when the doorbell rang.

Barely had she passed her degree, when she was offered a job.

Hardly had we landed, when all hell let loose.

Now answer these questions (use lower case / small letters only):

1. What tense is used in the first clause (part)?

2. What tense is used in the second clause (part)?

3. What word is used to link the two clauses:

with no sooner ...

with scarcely, barely and hardly

Practice 2 Following these rules, make one new sentence using negative inversion from each pair of
sentences below, using the prompts given. Remember about tenses. Start with a capital letter and
finish with a full stop, and add a comma after the first clause as in the examples above.

1. I left the house. It started to rain. (No sooner / than)

2. We got the new car home. It broke down. (Scarcely / when)

3. He started to speak. People started to boo him. (Barely / when)

4. She arrived. She was surrounded by admirers. (Hardly / when)

Note: with hardly, scarcely and barely, we usually use when. We can also use 'before': Hardly had we
landed, before all hell let loose.
But with no sooner ..., we always use than. See link below to usage discussion in the Oxford
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Pattern 3 - Inversion with Little ...

Look at these sentences

Little does he know what the boss has in store for him.

Little did she realise what a stupid remark she had made.

Little did we suspect that we would never see each other again.

In these constructions, little + verb of cognition such as imagine, know, realise, suspect, understand,
(usually in Present Simple or Past Simple) means something like have no idea, as in:

He has no idea (doesn't know) what the boss has in store for him.

She had no idea (didn't realise) what a stupid remark she had made.

We had no idea (didn't suspect) that we would never see each other again.
We usually only use little with this meaning in the inverted form. We are unlikely to say, for example:

He little knows what the boss has in store for him.

Practice 3 Make new sentences starting with 'Little' from the sentences below, using the same format
as in the examples above. Start with a capital letter and finish with a full stop, but don't add any other
punctuation.

1. He doesn't understand what he is up against.

2. They can't imagine what a hornet's nest they've stirred up.

3. She didn't suspect that she was about to be made redundant.

4. They didn't know what we all knew.

Note: one usually very reliable website (About.com) gives this example:
Little have I read concerning nanotechnology.

But I have to say that this doesn't sound at all natural to me. Every other example I can find uses
present or past simple, and one of the verbs listed above. Although I can imagine can / could being
used with imagine.

This is confirmed by Google Ngram Viewer, where the use of 'Little did he' far outweighs that of 'Little
could he' or 'Little had he'. See link below. It also shows, that in books at least, it seems to be used in
Past Simple a lot more than in Present Simple, and is usually followed by a clause beginning
with that.

As an aside, it is quite interesting that, according to Ngram, 'Little did he/she' starting with a capital
letter, is fast replacing 'little did he/she' starting with a small letter. Could this be due to writers moving
away from using semicolons to using full stops and starting new sentences, I wonder? It's just a
thought.

Pattern 4a - Inversion with Only + time expression

Look at these sentences:

Only then did the truth dawn on me.

Only the next day did I fully understand what had happened.

Only when I met Susannah did I find true happiness.

Only once you've read the book will you see what I'm talking about.
Only after I had seen her picture in the newspaper did I realise who she was.

Note 1: these constructions are usually about the past, but they can also be about the future (as in
the fourth example), in which they use similar verb forms to conditionals.

Note 2: the time expression can be anything from a single adverb, as in the first example, to a full
adverbial clause with its own verb, as in the last two. This can sometimes make it a bit difficult to work
out where to split the sentence.

A bit of deconstruction. Let's take a fairly complex sentence and break it down into its component
parts, and then put it back together as a negative inversion. Look at this sentence:

I only realised that they'd left their dog behind when I went back into the house after seeing them off.

Note that both the main part and the time expression each have two clauses. I did say fairly complex!
Now answer the following questions.

1a What is the main part (two clauses) without the time clause? (take
. away only)
Hint: this could be an independent sentence which would make sense on its
own.

1b Now invert 'I realised' (3 words)

.

1c What is the second clause (the rest) of the main part? (what did I realise?)
.

2. Now enter the time clause (ignore 'only')

3. Now enter the whole inverted sentence (with a full stop):

Only + time expression + inverted verb phrase + the rest of the main part.

Practice 4a. Make inverted sentences from the sentences below, with the format: Only + adverbial of
time + inversion + the rest. Remember to only use the clue buttons if you get stuck.
1. I only found out the truth much later.

2. He was only really happy when he was sailing his yacht.

3. I'll only know what to do once I've read the report.

4. He only got a job in IT after taking a course in computing.

Pattern 4b - Inversion with Only + other expressions

Only by bribing the porter did we manage to get a meal sent up to our room.

Only if you increase the discount can we possibly accept this deal.

Note
In these examples in 4a and 4b, only means 'in no other situation or place'. When it is used with this
meaning and begins the sentence, inversion must follow. But if it is used in the meaning of 'a limited
number', we can begin a sentence with Only without using inversion:

Only five people turned up to the meeting yesterday.

Inversion with expressions with no, not, neither and nor

Pattern 5a - at no time / nowhere

At no time was I aware that we were being followed.

But Officer! Nowhere does it say that parking here is forbidden.

At no (other) time are the hills quite so beautiful.

Nowhere (else) can you see more beautiful sunsets.

The expression at no time is often used, as in the first example, with verbs of cognition - think, be
aware, imagine etc. Nowhere is often used about (the lack of) information, with verbs like - say, tell,
inform etc

In the second pair of examples, however, both expressions are used for making comparisons, and are
often used like this with expressions with so or such, or of course a comparative.

Practice 5a Make new inverted sentences from these sentences, changing the adverbials to negative
and putting them at the beginning of the sentences. Remember you will also have to change the verb
to positive. We can't have no double negatives! [sic]
1. She didn't at any time realise to what extent he had been lying to her.

2. I haven't read anywhere that a degree is necessary for this job.

3. You can't get such a good pizza anywhere else.

4. The city is not so peaceful at any other time of the year.

Pattern 5b - on no account / under no circumstances

On no account should the back door be left unlocked.

Under no circumstances may an employee accept a bribe.

On no account are the premises to be left unattended.

Under no circumstances will a refund given without a receipt.

These expressions are used to strongly express what is not allowed.

Practice 5b Make new inverted sentences from these sentences, changing the adverbials to negative
and putting them at the beginning of the sentences.

1. Credit will not on any account be given.

2. Staff may not smoke on the job under any circumstances.

3. Security cards are not under any circumstances to be lent to non-staff.

4. Staff should not on any account give out a colleague's phone number.
Pattern 5c - expressions with not
Note that when these statements refer to the future, they use verb forms similar to 1st and 2nd
Conditionals.

not until

Not until much later did he find out the truth.

Not until long after he had left university did he really know what he wanted to do in life.

not for

Not for a million pounds will I marry that woman after what she did to me!

Not for all the tea in China would I take that job. Idiom

not even if

Not even if they paid me triple would I work the weekend of our wedding anniversary. It's more than
my life's worth.

Practice 5c Make new inverted sentences from these sentences, starting with 'Not'. Remember to
change the verb to positive if necessary.

1. We can't give you a refund until we've heard from the insurance people.

2. I didn't like Shakespeare until I saw Branagh's Henry V.

3. I wouldn't miss this match for the world.

4. I wouldn't eat at that restaurant again even if you dragged me there.

Pattern 5d - not only ... (but)(also)

Not only do I think he's a liar, but I also think he's dishonest.

Not only is she intelligent, she's also incredibly attractive. Not only am I right this time, I'm always
right.
This construction links two independent clauses, both of which would make sense on their own. Note
that while the first clause is inverted, the second uses normal word order. The but and the also are
both optional.

Pattern 5e - neither ... nor

Neither do I believe a word he says, nor do I trust him an inch.

Note that uniquely in this construction, both parts are inverted.

For the technically minded, the paired constructions in 5d and 5e, as well as no sooner ... than in
Pattern 2, are known as correlating conjunctions. The clauses in each part should be 'parallel', that is,
of equal length and grammatical form.

Pattern 5f - not for nothing

Davis scored twice and set up two other goals. Not for nothing was he named Man of the Match.

Helen Mirren's performance as 'The Queen' was absolutely flawless. Not for nothing was she
awarded both an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

This phrase means 'for good reasons'. It is usually used when talking about people's reputations,
achievements etc. It usually follows a sentence which gives an example of why this comment is
justified.

I think we do use this in informal language, the 'Not for nothing' sentence sometimes being used in
reply to what someone else has said:

A: Have you heard? Pete's just brought in another three corporate accounts.

B: Yeah. Not for nothing was he named Salesman of the Year.

Pattern 5g - no way
No way am I going to get this finished tonight.

Unlike other negative inversions, which are usually only used in formal contexts, especially in
writing, no way is very informal and is used mainly in speech. It is often used on its own:

'Are you going to get this finished tonight?' - 'No way (Jos)!'

To avoid having to use inversion we sometimes put 'There's' before it, but the inverted version has
greater dramatic effect.

There's no way I'm going to get this finished tonight.

Practice 5d, 5e, 5f, 5g Make new inverted sentences from these sentences, starting with 'Not,
Neither or No'. Remember to change the verb to positive if necessary. In the first two use a comma to
separate the clauses.

1. He plays the piano and he is also an accomplished violinist. (use but)

2. She doesn't smoke and she doesn't drink.

3. There are good reasons why 2008 was called the year of crisis.

4. I'm not going to eat these insects, whatever you say. No way.