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.