inversion for just emphasis or must?

Question

For some situations we make inversion just for emphasis ,it is not a must

eg;

We have never wittnessed such cruel behaviour by one child for another

Never have we wittnessed such cruel behaviour by one child to another.(For emphasis , it is not a must)

However I am not sure about the following sentences whether inversion is a must or is made just for emphasis.

*What about the inversion ''there'' and ''verb''?

a1)I opened the door and there stood Michael , all covered in mud

a2)I opened the door and Michael stood there , all covered in mud

b1)She looked out and there was Pamela, walking along arm in arm with Goldie.

b2)She looked out and Pamela was there , walking along arm in arm with Goldie.

Are there any differences between a1-a2 , b1-b2?

Answer 1

I opened the door and there stood Michael , all covered in mud

It is clear in this sentence that Michael is on the other side of the door, because "there" comes right after the door being opened, so it follows that what you saw is as a consequence of opening the door.

I opened the door and Michael stood there, all covered in mud

This may be used and understood to mean the same, but under scrutiny it is not clear which side of the door Michael is stood on. He could have been standing with you the whole time while you opened the door, perhaps for him to go out, and you are remarking that he just stood there instead of going out the door.

Same goes for:

She looked out and Pamela was there , walking along arm in arm with Goldie.

Again, many would assume you meant you saw Pamela out of the window, but it isn't explicit. It could be understood to mean that she was with Pamela while she looked out.

Native speakers tend to be less picky about subtle differences like this in spoken English. When speaking about object placement many people will enhance their speech with gestures like pointing to an imaginary open door in front of them when saying "there" and this would remove any ambiguity. But in written English people do tend to choose their words more carefully.