Inversion

Inversion happens when we reverse (invert) the normal word order of a structure, most commonly the subject-verb word order.

Usually, we put the expression at the beginning of the sentence to emphasise what we’re saying. It makes our sentence so und surprising or striking or unusual. It also sounds quite formal. If you don’t want to give this impression, you can put the negative e xpression later in the sentence in the normal way. We only use inversion when the adverb modifies the whole phrase and not when it modifies t he noun:

Hardly anyone passed the exam.