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。 
● 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.