Which sentence uses inversion correctly after a restrictive adverbial?
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: D. Only when the sensors had failed did the engineers realise how fragile the monitoring network was.
- Step 1: 'Only when ...' at the start of a sentence forces the auxiliary to come before the subject of the main clause.
- Step 2: The correct order is 'did the engineers realise', and the embedded clause keeps normal order (how fragile the network was).
Answer
Only when the sensors had failed did the engineers realise how fragile the monitoring network was.
Why not the others: The others keep the subject before 'did', invert the wrong clause, or invert inside the embedded 'how' clause.
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