一、用于疑问句中,大多数的疑问句都是倒装句。例如:

　　Have you been to the Great Wall?你去过长城吗?

　　Was your lab set up in 1997?你的实验室建于1997年吗?

　　二、用于There be句型。例如:

　　There seems to be something wrong with the machine.机器好像出了什么毛病。

　　三、表示否定或半否定的副词,放在句首作状语,用来加强语气时,用部分倒装。这类词有:no, not, never, little, hardly, rarely, seldom, nowhere, scarcely等。例如:

　　Hardly had he said anything before he left.他几乎什么也没有说就离开了。

　　Seldom have I seen her so unhappy.很少见她如此不高兴。

　　Little did I think a year ago that I could work for your company.一年前我几乎没有想到能为你们公司工作。

　　Nowhere will you find the answer to this question.无论哪里你也找不到这个问题的答案。

　　四、表示否定意义的短语位于句首时,不表否定意义常用部分倒装。常见的短语词组有:no sooner... than, no longer, not only... but also, in no way(绝不), at no time(任何时候都不),hardly(scarely,barely)... when等。例如:

　　Hardly had she fallen asleep when someone knocked at the door.她刚要睡着,忽然有人敲门。

　　No sooner had we reached this conclusion than they agreed to it.我们一得出这个结论,他们就同意了。

　　Not until noon did he start. 他中午才出发。

　　In vain did she try to do it.她试图做成这件事,但没成功。

　　五、only引出的状语放在句首时需要部分倒装。例如:

　　Only recently did he have a chance to visit his hometown.只是最近他才有机会拜访家乡。

　　Only after class was he allowed to raise the question.只有课下才允许他提出这样的问题。

　　六、here, there, then, out, down等副词放在句首或地点状语后面用完全倒装。例如:

　　On the bed lay a young girl. 床上躺着一个年轻姑娘。

　　Then came the results we long hoped for.我们盼望已久的结果终于来了。

　　七、表示前句说明的情况也适用于后者,常由so, neither, nor引起部分倒装。so用于肯定句,neither, nor用于否定句。例如:

　　He didn't say anything, nor / neither did his assistant. 他没有说话,他的助手也没说。

　　Anne can speak Japanese, so can her brother. 安妮会说日语,她的弟弟也会。

　　八、直接引语置于句首,名词充当主语时用完全倒装。例如:

　　"Will you join us in the match?" asked Tom. "加入我们的比赛好吗?"汤姆问。

　　"They must be in the field now", thought Mr Li. "他们准在地里."李先生想。

　　九、复杂的长句中,句子主语过长或上下文之间需要紧凑衔接时。例如:

　　有的句子因为主语部分较长而谓语部分较短,为避免头重脚轻现象而倒装。

　　More important is the question of how to face the possibilities of illness, injury, and death.更重要的是如何面对疾病、伤害、死亡等各种可能性的问题。

　　Gone are the days when my heart was young and happy. 青春和欢乐的日子一去不复返了。

　　十、用于比较状语从句和让步状语从句中。例如:

　　A copper wire allows a larger current than does an iron wire.铜丝导电比铁丝强。

　　Young though she is ,she knows a lot.虽然她年龄小,但她知道得很多。

　　十一、倒装语序经常出现在"so+形容词(+that)" 和"such(+that)引出的结果状语从句中"。例如:

　　So sudden was the attack (that) we had no time to escape.袭击来得非常突然,我们来不及逃避。

　　Such is life that everyone can understand this. 生活就是这样,每个人都明白这一点。

　　十二、分词短语作表语放在句首, 引起句子倒装。例如:

　　Sitting round the professor were his two assistants and a friend of his. 教授的两个助手和他的一个朋友坐在他身旁。

　　Buried in the sands was an ancient village. 一个古老的村庄被掩埋在沙丘中。

　　十三、为了强调或突出句中某一部分,常把要强调的部分放在句首,以表示强烈感情。例如:

　　A very capable young man he is. 他是一个很能干的小伙子。

　　In 1939 came the Second World War. 一九三九年爆发了第二次世界大战。

　　十四、用于表示祝愿及感叹的句子。例如:

　　May you all be happy!祝你们大家愉快!

　　What a powerful machine it is!这台机器功率真大呀!

　　(文/魏宪国； 《英语通》高二版 03~04学年度第4期；版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)