• Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Advanced subjunctive: were it not for, lest, that she not be; Simple, compound, complex and compound-complex sentences). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
• Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.

1. Choose the form that is correct in formal written English. It's high time we ___ a decision. (make / making / will make / made) → madePrompt: Is this a demand or recommendation (that + base form), an unreal condition (were/had/should), or a fixed expression?
2. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? If it was not for the volunteers, the festival could not take place. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: Is this a demand or recommendation (that + base form), an unreal condition (were/had/should), or a fixed expression?
3. What type of sentence is this? After lunch, the class visited the museum. (simple / compound / complex / compound-complex) → simplePrompt: Count the independent clauses, then count the dependent clauses.

• Show a sentence with the grammar point used wrongly and ask what sounds odd.
• Share the objective: Inversion for emphasis: Never have I…, Not only did she…. Read the success criteria together.

• Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
• Example: Choose the correct form to complete the emphatic sentence. Rarely ___ snow in this part of Spain.
• Step 1: When a negative or restrictive expression begins a sentence for emphasis, the auxiliary comes before the subject (Never have I…).
• Step 2: 'Rarely' at the start: does + subject + base verb.
• Step 3: Put it back into the sentence and read it aloud: "Rarely does it snow in this part of Spain."
• Step 4: So the answer is: does it
• Answer: does it
• Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

• Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
• Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.

1. Choose the correct form to complete the emphatic sentence. No sooner ___ the stage than the lights went out. (stepped she onto / she had stepped onto / had she stepped onto / she stepped onto) → had she stepped ontoPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?
2. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Seldom does a team come back from four goals down. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?

• Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
• Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

• Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.

1. Is this sentence correct in formal written English? Only by working together can solve we solve this problem. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?
2. Choose the correct form to complete the emphatic sentence. Rarely ___ snow in this part of Spain. (is it / does it / it does / it) → does itPrompt: Does the sentence start with a negative or limiting word (never, rarely, not only, only then, little, hardly)?

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/english/grade-12.