fromEnglish Grammar Today
Negative adverbs:hardly, seldom, etc.
Some adverbs (e.g.hardly,little,never,only,scarcelyandseldom) have a negative meaning. When we use these at the beginning of theclause, we invert the subject and verb:
Hardlyhad we left the hotel when it started to pour with rain.
Not:Hardly we had left the hotel…
Littledid we know that we would never meet again.
Onlyin spring do we see these lovely little flowers.
We also invert the subject and verb afternot+ a prepositional phrase ornot+ a clause in front position:
Notfor a moment did I think I would be offered the job, so I was amazed when I got it.
Nottill I got home did I realise my wallet was missing.
See also:
Inversion
Word order and focus
Little,a little,few,a few
Hardly
Hardly ever,rarely,scarcely,seldom