"If ever I was..." vs "If ever was I..."

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi

Could you please tell me which one of the following statements is correct and by which grammar rule?

1- If ever I was happy, it was yesterday.
2-- If ever was I happy, it was yesterday.

Waiting!

Tom

2

Hi Tom

1- If ever I was happy, it was yesterday. is the correct sentence.

No inversion required. “If ever” is more or less just an intensified version of “if”.

Amy

3

Thanks, Amy

There are two questions:

Q1- How do we decide if inversion is required or not?
Q2- If, for exampe, in my sentence, I wanted to use inversion for the sake of emphasis, how would I do it?

If ever I was happy, it was yesterday.

Thanks in advance

Tom

4

Hi Tom

Don’t expect to be able to go around inverting things willy-nilly. :lol:

You simply need to learn which words/phrases result in inversion when they’re used a certain way. For example, if you start off a sentence with “Not only”, then you need inversion:
Not only will I answer the question, but I’ll also give an example.
COMPARE standard word order:
I will not only answer the question, but I’ll also give an example.

You can sometimes invert in an if-sentence if you omit the word “if”:
Should you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

But I don’t like this sort of inversion in your sentence because of the word “ever”. For me “If ever” is a pair that needs to stay together in order to achieve the meaning you’re after. Omitting half of the pair is like omitting the willy from willy-nilly. :lol:

Amy