• 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. ___ I known about the storm, I would have stayed at home. (Had / Would / Did / Have) → HadPrompt: 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? I'd rather you didn't leave the window open. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: 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? We left early; the roads were already busy. (simple / compound / complex / compound-complex) → compoundPrompt: 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. Little ___ that the house was haunted. (knew they / they knew / they did know / did they know) → did they knowPrompt: 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? Only then realised we how serious the problem was. (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? Only by working together can we solve this problem. (correct / incorrect) → correctPrompt: 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. Hardly ___ home when the phone rang. (got I / had I got / I had got / I got) → had I gotPrompt: 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.