Negative Inversion – Part 1: Multiple Choice

Choose the words that complete each sentence correctly. Your first choice counts.

1. Our neighbours have lived here for a year, and never _____ them say a word to anyone.

2. My great-uncle is ninety-two, but rarely _____ a day without ringing one of his grandchildren.

3. Not only _____ the date wrong on the wedding invitations, but she also misspelt the bride's name.

4. This is a fire door. Under no circumstances _____ open.

5. The TV remote had vanished again. Only after _____ under every cushion did she find it.

6. There isn't a free table anywhere in the pub tonight. Seldom _____ this many teams.

7. It hasn't snowed much on the mountain yet. Only when the snow is a metre deep _____ for the season.

8. Our coach driver was brilliant. At no time during the six-hour journey _____ his eyes off the road.

9. Forty guests turned up for Ellie's birthday. Never before _____ so crowded.

10. Not until the second week of the course _____ to enjoy the early starts.

11. Look – there's hardly anyone here! Rarely _____ this quiet on a Saturday.

12. I warned Leo three times that the pan was hot. Even then _____ it alone.

13. Not only _____ cheaper than a taxi, but they also drop us at the end of our street.

14. The park has lovely new tennis courts, but seldom _____ anyone playing on them.

15. It was a long, noisy drive. Not until _____ off the motorway did the children stop arguing.

16. In thirty years of teaching, never once _____ a lesson late.

17. Only after you've shown your ticket at the gate _____ onto the platform.

18. The teacher wrote the finishing time on the board. Only then _____ to turn over their papers.

19. Bring your binoculars. Sometimes _____ seals on the rocks below the cliff.

20. Only when the last customers have gone _____ time to sit down.