C2 Mastery Advanced inversion and emphasis
Advanced emphatic structures
Lesson goal. After this lesson you can use advanced emphatic structures (It was not until...that, Only by, What made it worse, The very fact that) in formal style.
When to use it
- Emphasising the point when something finally happened: It was not until 2020 that...
- Emphasising the only way to achieve something: Only by working together can we...
- Emphasising what made a situation better/worse: What made it worse was...
- Emphasising a specific piece of evidence, however small: The very fact that...
Form
| Structure | Role |
|---|---|
| It was not until X that Y | emphasises the point in time |
| Only by + V-ing, + inversion | emphasises the only way |
| What made it worse/better was... | cleft sentence stressing the influencing factor |
| The very fact that + clause | emphasises concrete evidence |
Step by step
- With 'It was not until X that Y': X is the time/event, Y keeps normal subject-verb order (no inversion).
- With 'Only by + V-ing': the following main clause must be inverted (auxiliary before subject).
- With 'What made it worse/better was...': this is a cleft sentence; after 'was' comes a noun clause (that...) or noun phrase.
- With 'The very fact that': 'very' emphasises how obvious the fact in the 'that' clause is.
Inversion or not?
| Structure | Inversion in main clause? |
|---|---|
| It was not until X that Y | No — Y keeps normal word order |
| Only by/Only when/Only after + at the start | Yes — inversion is required |
| What made it worse was... | No — this is a cleft sentence, not inversion |
Examples
It was not until her manager pointed it out that she realised her mistake.
Only by staying calm did the pilot manage to land the plane safely.
What made it worse was that nobody apologised.
The very fact that he showed up on time proves he is serious about the job.
Common mistakes
Only by practising every day she improved her pronunciation. → Only by practising every day did she improve her pronunciation.
Only by + V-ing at the start of a sentence requires inversion in the main clause: did she improve.
It was not until the results were published the scandal came to light. → It was not until the results were published that the scandal came to light.
'that' is required after the time point in 'It was not until X that Y' — it cannot be omitted.
The very fact he showed up on time proves he is serious. → The very fact that he showed up on time proves he is serious.
'The very fact' needs 'that' before the following clause — 'that' cannot be dropped.
Memory tip
Remember: only 'Only by/when/after...' requires inversion; 'It was not until...that' and 'What made it worse was...' do NOT invert the main clause.
Summary
- It was not until X that Y — emphasises the time point, no inversion in Y.
- Only by + V-ing, + inversion — emphasises the only way.
- What made it worse/better was... — cleft sentence; The very fact that... — emphasises evidence.
Practise this lesson
Do exercises with an explanation for every question, take mini tests and track your progress on GrammUp.