YES, THERE ARE INVERSIONS. For example, they are commonly they are used after negative adverbs or adverbial phrases, when they START a sentence. (Not only, Never, Only after, Only later, In no way, On no account, No sooner, Hardly, Barely, Scarcely, Nowhere, Little, and many more). Examples: Only after several weeks DID SHE start to recover; On no account SHOULD YOU swim in shark-infested waters; Nowhere COULD WE find a reliable electrician; Hardly HAD I sat down when I had to start work again! (not.. Hardly I had sat down...) I some ways it looks like a question... HAD I sat down COULD WE find an electrician ... but they are not questions. Inversions are used for emphasis often, and are probably found in more formal situations, but not always. With expressions like NO SOONER it is difficult NOT to invert! No sooner HAD I put the phone down than it rang again. You simply can't say 'I had put the phone down than it rang again no sooner. ' No! You have to invert (with the negative adverbial phrase at the start). Of course you can reword it without the 'no sooner'. As soon as I put the phone down it rang again. But if you start the sentence with NO sooner ... you have to invert. Be careful though... if the adverb modifies a NOUN not a verb we DO NOT INVERT. Example: Hardly had I got home... inversion... hardly modifies the verb; Hardly anyone knows my secret... NO inversion as the 'hardly' modifies the noun 'anyone'.

Whenever a new element (event, person, interesting thing) is introduced in a narration its proper place is usually at the end of the sentence, and this fact alone produces many interesting changes (and inversions) in the usual order of the sentence elements. Example: In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit. (J.R.R. Tolkien) A great book, (actually terrific in my opinion), that could answer your question and similar ones is this: Introducing English Grammar, by Borjars, Kersti I would suggest you to start from chapter 9 and then work in both directions.

Of course, there are many other types of inversion. Often used in literature and poetry. In a house on the hill there lived an old woman... instead of.... An old woman lived in a house on the hill.

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