当主语在谓语前出现时叫顺序(the natural order)。在某些情况下，我们可以把谓语成分放在主语前面，这种词序叫做倒装( the inverted order)。

倒装分两种：配合语法条例的倒装，叫“grammatical inversion”;配合强调语势的叫“emphatic inversion”。

语法上的倒装句是强制性的，包括下列 7 种：

⒈疑问句，如：

● Can you do it?

● How old are you?

● When did you know him?

● Why did you elect him as captain?

● Which of these apples do you prefer?

但疑问代词做主语时，不必倒置，如：

● Who is your English teacher?

● What happened last night?

⒉表示“愿望”的句子，如：

● May God bless you.

● Long live the king!

⒊“There”引导的句子，如：

● There are many cars on the road.

● There stand some big trees near the river.

● There is a security guard outside the bank.

⒋感叹句，如：

● How beautiful the flower is!

● What a smart boy you are!

⒌有连接词“so, neither, nor”的句子，如：

● Tom can ride a bicycle; so can I.

● She can't sing; neither can he.

● John has never been late; nor have I.

⒍省略连词“if”的条件副词分句，如：

● Were I you, I would not do such a thing.

● Should the machine break down again, send it back to us.

● Had you worked harder, you would have passed.

⒎“as, however”连接的让步副词分句，如：

● Small as the pen is, it is a powerful weapon.

● However busy you are, you should spend some time reading Zaobao weekly.

谈过了语法上的倒装句，现在谈强调的倒装句。例如：?-?里把表示否定的副词或副词短语提到句前;是把副词虚助词提前：

● Never have I seen such a wicked man.

● On no account must this employee be removed.

● Not until he told me had I heard anything of it.

● No sooner had I left than the rain came.

● Up jumped the puppy.

● In came John.

● Down fell the rotten branches from the tree.

● Out came a woman and her maid.