Advanced Grammar Structures
The ECPE certifies English at the C2 proficiency level, so its grammar items favour advanced structures. This chapter reviews inversion, conditionals, the subjunctive, and infinitive forms.
Inversion and Fronting
Negative and restrictive phrases at the start of a clause trigger inversion of subject and auxiliary: 'No sooner had she sat down ...', 'Only after the results were published did we grasp ...'. Note that 'no sooner' pairs with 'than', while 'hardly' and 'scarcely' pair with 'when'.
Conditionals and the Subjunctive
Inverted conditionals drop 'if': 'Were it not for her guidance ...' and 'Had I known ...'. After verbs like 'insist' and 'demand', the subjunctive uses the base form: 'insisted that every proposal be reviewed'.
Perfect Infinitives
A perfect infinitive ('to have completed') places an action before the main verb. 'She is reported to have completed the work' shows the completion happened before the reporting.