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I was trying to find some info about this construction but couldn't succeed, although I happen to encounter it here and there almost every day. So the construction is: auxiliary verb + subject + verb. Noteworthy that it looks like a question construction, but it actually isn't.

Example: Very rarely does she manage to handle her work.

This sentence can be replaced with She very rarely manages to handle her work.

So in what cases should we use it? And when would it be inappropriate to do it?

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  • Look up "inversion for emphasis". It has been done quite a lot here on EL&U.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 16:53
  • @Cascabel It's not inversion for emphasis, really. It's a grammatical rule which applies when a negative adjunct is placed at the beginning of the sentence.
    – Araucaria - Him
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 17:13
  • @Araucaria Is there another name for it? That's what we used to call it when I was teaching EFL. This answer would seem to agree with me that is some kind of umbrella term, although it does say that "intro adverbial inversion" is the formal name. Also this answer from Barrie England.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 18:02
  • BTW...the question was "When do we use the ...construction ' auxiliary verb + subject + verb'." The example had a negative adjunct, but from the way the question is phrased I would not limit it to that.
    – Cascabel_StandWithUkraine_
    Commented Oct 25, 2019 at 20:05
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    Fronting of the negative "rarely" triggers subject-auxiliary inversion. There would be some reason for fronting it, and that could be for emphasis.
    – BillJ
    Commented Oct 26, 2019 at 9:53

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