• 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. ___ for the volunteers, the festival could not take place. (Was it not / If it was not / Were not it / Were it not) → Were it notPrompt: 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? Was it 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? The fox crept across the frozen field. (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. (had she stepped onto / stepped she onto / she had 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? So tired she is that she fell asleep at her desk. (correct / incorrect) → incorrectPrompt: 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? Little they did know that the house was haunted. (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. So tired ___ that she fell asleep at her desk. (she was / was her / was she / she is) → was shePrompt: 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.