The Grammaring Guide to English Grammar with Exercises

What is inversion?

Inversion is the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase. There are two types of inversion:

Subject-verb inversion, where the subject and the main verb switch positions and the word order becomes verb + subject: On the top of the hill stood an old oak tree.

Subject-auxiliary inversion, where the subject and the auxiliary switch positions and the word order becomes auxiliary + subject (+ verb): Hardly had I arrived home when my phone rang.

When does the bus leave?

You're hungry, aren't you?