usage of 'little'

[yamamoto]

Hello.

I have a question with following sentence.

Little did he imagine that the project would be such a challenge.

When I rewrite this sentence, which one is correct? Or both are correct?

1. He little imagined that the project would be such a challenge.

2. He imagined little that the project would be such a challenge.

In this case, does the adverb 'little' have a certain grammatical rule in terms of its position?

thank you.

[MartinEnglish]

1. is correct
The original (rather unusual and poetic) structure you give is:
adjective/adverb + auxillery + clause

Rarely do we find such courage on the battlefield.
Seldom had I met such kind people.
Little do you know what he really thinks.
Often were the days I wished I had stayed at home.

They can be rewritten as normal Subject +adverb of frequency + verb
We rarely find....
I seldom met
You (really) don't know...
I often wished...

As you can see "little" cannot be transfered. I hope this helps! Email me if you're still not clear, I may not have explained that very well - I haven't had a coffee yet.

[emsr2d2]

I actually think "He little imagined that ..." sounds acceptable. Uncommon, but acceptable.