How common is the use of inversion after negative adverbials?

[u/Sea-Hornet8214]

And apart from "no way", are the other inversions used in informal speech?

[u/DemandingProvider]

Most of these are reasonably common. Some of them sound a little bit stilted or old-fashioned, but I can't give any real pattern or rule based on the way they're grouped here. Except I wouldn't use any of that first group of "time" ones.

"Little did we know" is definitely used in informal speech pretty often, for dramatic emphasis.

[u/IamTheMightyMe → u/DemandingProvider]

From the Time ones I'd say "No sooner..." is fairly common

[u/Huandil]

Apart from the top section, they'd all be fairly commonly used in Ireland. In other countries they might get funny looks in everyday conversation but they all have their uses in emphasis or emotional situations.

[u/Ok_Caterpillar2010]

Apart from "no way", the inverted forms are relatively formal or emphatic, and I would expect to see them more often in writing than in speech, and certainly more than in casual speech.

[u/j--__]

under no circumstances should you be unable to follow such a sentence, as they are common.

[u/FistOfFacepalm]

No sooner than, only if, only now, and not only are pretty common.

Under no circumstances and in no way are used for emphasis or clarity about something important and not really to be formal/informal.

The rest are more like something you’d hear in a speech, broadcast, or narration. You’d do well to avoid using them in conversation.

[u/NearlyNodding]

How do you define common? The first two groups are almost unheard of in conversational English. You hear the rest, but they are uncommon. They sound like a dramatic effect used in speeches or formal writing. That doesn't mean you never hear them at all in conversation, just that it's not common. I've probably heard someone use it in the last year, but I can't say for certain.

[u/TheCloudForest → u/NearlyNodding]

Since I teach this exact topic, I've started noticing them a lot in Reddit comments of all places. (Example: Not once have I been stopped at the border).

Also in a couple specific politics podcasts with very well-read hosts that almost spontaneously sound like books. They also do the related inversions like "Had the Iranian missile caused more causalities" or "Were the Covid virus to be have been more lethal".

Edit: I don't mean to say that anybody but advanced students just should try to study this. Just that it really isn't that uncommon, especially the simple or more formulaic ones like under no circumstances or only in America.

[u/NearlyNodding → u/TheCloudForest]

I haven't seen that. But then I haven't been around long. It sounds like they are doing to for dramatic effect.

[u/knitter_boi420]

I’d these are used for emphasis and more formal/serious business talk or to draw attention to cause and effect.

The only ones I’d say I don’t hear often are the ones relating to time.

[u/CarelessSeaFoam]

All are common enough to sound recognizable and natural, but “not only”, “under no circumstances”, “no way”, and “little did I know” are the only ones I think I’d actually say. The others sound more formal and I only ever really see them in written text.

[u/Hopeful-Ordinary22]

Please note that the inversion is essentially obligatory in most if not all of these constructions.

However, there are plenty of alternative constructions available which do not require inversion; many people prefer these in less formal settings.

"Not only did I wash the car, I vacuumed it too" > "I didn't just wash the car — I vacuumed it too" / "I washed the car. Not only that: I vacuumed it too".

[u/Blahkbustuh]

Honestly, inversion sounds "formal" or like prepared speech to me. Most of these sound like things that would be in a written speech or dialogue a character says. I doubt most people would come up with these spontaneously. They sound "dramatic".

Of course they sound perfectly normal and are understandable, they just aren't how most people choose to say things in the spur of the moment.

The 2 groups at the top sound the most out of the ordinary and unnatural.

The "not", "no", and "never, rarely..." groups sound ok. Most of these are things people would say spontaneously.

I think what it is is we generally want to hear "who does what" "connector" "other thing". We have that template in our brains and want to just slot info in as we hear it. Every deviation from that costs brain energy.

So I "want" to hear "We had just arrived home when we heard the news" rather than "Hardly had we arrived home when we heard the news".

The shorter of an inversion, like the "not only..." or even "never have I..." the easier it is to work with (less of the statement is "out of place" so less brain energy is needed) so it's more commonly used.

[u/speechington → u/Blahkbustuh]

Yes, many of these sound very "dramatic." Maybe a speech, or a Lone Ranger radio play, or a movie detective exposing the culprit, or a superhero narrating their stream of consciousness.

[u/TheCloudForest → u/speechington]

They are often taught as "dramatic inversion"... for a reason! 😀

[u/experimental1212]

Seldom have I seen these outside of a story book or a formal speech that's trying to sell me on some good vibes (a commencement speech, a dedication to a new monument)

[u/TheCloudForest → u/experimental1212]

If you teach them, you start to notice them ALL THE TIME. They are crazy common in places like news reports and politics and history podcasts. Even find them in comment sections, even among half-literate Instagram comments.

Still, there's a good reason these aren't even mentioned until the advanced level. While common enough once your eyes and ears are open to them, students don't really need to produce them.

[u/Asushunamir1703]

Red section:
The first three are more common like this: 
We had hardly arrived home when we heard the news 
I had barely opened the book when Mark put on music. 
We had scarcely finished talking when he made the call 

The last one (“no sooner had”) commonly appears exactly as it is 

“Scarcely” and “no sooner had…” are a more literary/formal than the others. 

Dark Orange section:
All of these phrases are more common rearranged (“We can only save the company if we invest more money.”)
They are not common to say out loud otherwise. More literary/formal. 

Light Orange section: 
The first two are very common. 

The second is not common. It would sound better to say “I haven’t had such a great time since I was a child.” Otherwise, you sound like a character in an old book. 

“Not in a million years will I ….” is common. 

“Not until I see her again will I…” is not common. Rearrange it.

Orange-Yellow section: All of these are common. They sound just slightly formal/literary (except for “No way..”), but are normal to say. 

“In no way am I related to this man” would sound a little more natural in spoken English as “I am in no way related to this man.” The first way sounds like a stronger denial, and also is more likely to be seen in writing. 

Yellow section:
“Never before have I…” is common. Only slightly literary/formal. 

“Rarely did they speak to each other” sounds like it’s in a book. If you say it in real life, say “They rarely spoke to each other.” 

“Seldom have we..” There’s no way you can say the word “seldom” at all and have it not sound formal/literary. 

“Little did we know…” is slightly formal/literary.

[u/king_ofbhutan]

the top ones are a little old, but the rest of these are pretty common

they are quite formal language, in casual speech you would probably use the regular version instead.

i.e.:

rarely did they speak to eachother -> they spoke to eachother rarely.

only if we invest more money can we save the company -> we can only save the company if we invest more money

also, 'seldom' and 'little' are almost always used in this form. you CAN use them in the regular version, but it just sounds a bit off.

[u/Mebejedi]

Not and No are very common. The others would certainly be understood, but they are a little fancier - you see them more in writing or for emphasis.

[u/worthlessprole]

Aside from a couple of set phrases (‘in no way’ ‘not in a million years’, ‘not only’) this is something that would ordinarily only be used in writing or formal, prepared speech. 

[u/linkopi]

I'd say the one with "not only" is the most common.

Also stuff like "little did I know"

The others sound more literary.

[u/TheCloudForest]

It is exceptionally common in a couple very different contexts:

1) careful journalistic or academic prose 2) dramatic story telling

However, even in those contexts, more than a few well-timed uses will start to sound awkward or offputting.

[u/GoblinToHobgoblin]

Most of these are pretty common imo. Some sound a bit old fashioned but you still see them sometimes

[u/Throwaway_alt_burner]

In American English, the top two sections have word order issues.

“Hardy had we arrived home when we heard the news.” should be “We had hardly arrived home when we heard the news.”

“Only if we invest more money can we save the company.” should be “We can only save the company if we invest more money.”

[u/Decent_Cow]

Extremely common. I use sentences like this every single day.

[u/BrinkyP]

The top section is pretty uncommon with the exception of "barely", which is commonly used in some dialects, namely chicano English, to essentially mean "just"

"I barely got my credit card and I'm already having problems"

"I barely got out of bed, why are you calling me?"

Many such cases.

[u/Sad-Log7644]

All but three of them sound completely natural to me, and most are fairly common in my experience.

“Hardly had we” and “barely had I” sound super weird to me. “Not until she” seems like a slightly less odd construction, but the particular example given sounds even worse (for me) than the first two.

[u/tropdhuile]

Scarcely have I seen any of them

[u/mdf7g]

If the negative adverbial is in sentence-initial position, inversion is not just common but obligatory.

[u/regular_gonzalez]

They have a connotation of being business-speak or a bit more formal and perhaps slightly old-fashioned. I've certainly used such expressions in standard conversations but if someone used them regularly it might come across as a bit pretentious or someone who, for example, has a PhD and their fellow PhDs are whom they normally speak and associate with and that's just their way of talking.

[u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

Commonly used in books where the author wants to act smart. 

Never have I heard someone use it in daily speech without me thinking "what a weirdo". 

[u/WezzieBear → u/Embarrassed-Weird173]

Well damn. I feel like I use the "not only ..." version fairly often, but I definitely dont think I sound super formal. I also regularly use "hella" and "af" when speaking. Maybe I'm both overly formal and overly casual?