(No he visto nunca una puesta de sol tan maravillosa.)
The normal order of an English sentence is:
However, there are several groups of expressions which, when they go before the subject, involve the inversion of the subject and the (auxiliary) verb.
Negative expressions before the subject, as well as hardly, seldom, barely, little, and phrases with only, e.g.:
| Never have I seen such a wonderful sunset. (No he visto nunca una puesta de sol tan maravillosa.) |
| Not only were they late, but they didn't even apologise. (No sólo llegaron tarde, sino que ni siquiera se disculparon.) |
| Hardly had we begun before the projector went wrong. (Apenas habíamos comenzado cuando el proyector se estropeó.) |
| Little did they realise that the police were already on their way. (Ni se dieron cuenta de que la policía ya estaba en camino.) |
| Only much later were we to learn the whole story. (Más tarde fue cuando supimos toda la historia.) |
Phrases of direction and place, when the subject is a noun or noun phrase, e.g.:
| Here comes the taxi. (Aquí llega el taxi.) |
| Down came the rain. (Llovía y llovía.) |
| At the end of the street stood a tall house. (Al final de la calle se alzaba una casa alta.) |
| Over the table hung a large candelabra. (Sobre la mesa colgaba un gran candelabro.) |
| Out of the carriage stepped three young children. (Del vagón bajaron tres niños pequeños.) |
Notice that there is no inversion when the subject is a pronoun, e.g.:
| Here it comes. (Aquí llega.) |
| Out of the carriage they stepped. (Bajaron del vagón.) |
