Questions tagged [inversion]
Inversion is the placing of words or whole phrases in the reverse of their usual order in a sentence. It can serve a grammatical or a rhetorical purpose.
237
questions
-1
votes
0answers
12 views
Can I do an inversion like this, 'Can be stated the fact that [a clause]'?
I certainly can rephrase it as, 'It can be stated as a fact that', but that 'as' make the following sound as though it's not really a fact, just as good as a fact. Can I invert the subject-verb ...
2
votes
1answer
25 views
Is the usage “it is not until now……” grammatically correct?
I have heard a lot of sentences including the phrase "until now" at the begining of sentences.
But when I search its inversion format in Google, I hardly find any related sentences which begin with
...
0
votes
0answers
28 views
What do they vs What they
I wonder ____________. ---Pandas.
A. what do they call these animals.
B. what they call these animals.
C. what they do call these animals.
I guess if it is a personal conversation, it would be "...
0
votes
2answers
110 views
Usage of “How can we” and “How we can” in the following case
Correct
This is how we can improve XXX.
Correct
How can we improve XXX?
May I know, which is the correct form?
Would you mind telling us how we can improve XXX?
Would you mind telling us how can ...
0
votes
1answer
29 views
How to use So Inversion
I came across "so" inversion without "that" do you ratify this clause and supply more examples ?
The attitudes towards the use of insect in animal feed and resulting livestock products are generally ...
1
vote
1answer
37 views
Can “not only … but also” be constructed as “not only … as also”?
In other languages, the construction "not only ... but also" can be constructed in a different form: "not only ... as also".
Is this also possible in English? For example, is this sentence correct?:
...
0
votes
1answer
40 views
Can we make a question with inversion sentence?
In an essay, can I write the next question about free time? Is is grammatically correct?
Seldom have I watched films on TV?
0
votes
1answer
22 views
Does inversion occur after comma?
Which of the following is correct?
Only after he came home did I go to bed.
Only after he came home, I went to bed.
Is the second clause correct?
Or is inversion compulsory in that case ...
2
votes
1answer
15 views
Is this inversion structure correct?
Given is the chart concerning the percentage of graduates working in
different sectors of the economy in the UK in 2004.
I would like to ask whether this sentence is grammatically correct. The part ...
0
votes
0answers
21 views
Is this an inversion sentence?
Is this an inversion sentence?
And a farce and a spectacle it will be, fulfilling the social
aspirations of Trump and all his grim entourage: to be feted with the
high ritual and honorifics ...
0
votes
2answers
19 views
Does inversion change the meaning of the sentence: “As she did…, she could”
She could not go to the party as she did not have an invitation.
As she did not have an invitation, she could not go to the party.
What is the difference between them?
1
vote
1answer
40 views
What type of inversion is in the following sentences? : Thee will I honor, praise and give glory [closed]
e.g:
Thee will I love, my Strength, my Tower
thee shall I love in endless day
0
votes
1answer
21 views
Two examples about the usage of inversion which make me confused
In the temple of science are many mansions, and various indeed are they that dwell therein and the motives that have led them thither.
This is a sentence from a speech of Albert Einstein. When I ...
0
votes
1answer
46 views
Inversion in a sentence with the continuous tense
The original sentence is
The two men were talking in front of the station.
Which one of the following sentences is correct, if I place the adverbial phrase at the beginning?
In front of the ...
0
votes
0answers
14 views
Inversion in second conditional
If Sandy were giving a speech tomorrow, she would be very nervous.
Were Sandy giving a speech tomorrow, she would be very nervous.
Is this inversion correct?
Thank you so much in advance!
0
votes
1answer
40 views
Subject-dependent inversion
In front of him opens a magnificent view on mountains.
Is such a subject-dependent inversion possible? Or should I use
there opens a magnificent view on mountains in front of him?
2
votes
2answers
33 views
Can I say; So happy does he look? - is it grammatical?
I wonder which of the following sentences is grammatically right?
So happy he looks.
So happy does he look.
1
vote
1answer
30 views
In the distance + inversion sentence？
In the distance could be seen the purple mountains.
In the distance the purple mountains could be seen.
I know sentence 1 is right, but can you tell me whether sentence 2 is right.
2
votes
2answers
80 views
Comma before “that” if a sentence begins with an emphatic construction
A coursebook gives a reference to “inversion after ‘neither / nor’, ‘so’ & ‘such’”, and there is this example:
Such was the weather, that even the most daring windsurfers stayed at
home.
The ...
1
vote
1answer
70 views
Is it an inversion in comparison?
There is no strong theoretical or empirical motivation for the view
that grammatical competence is any more or less crucial to successful
communication than is sociolinguistic competence or ...
0
votes
1answer
178 views
Had Andrew a little patient… - error in the example sentence?
At https://www.learngrammar.net/a/examples-of-inversion-used-in-conditional-sentences there's one example which I think has an error in it. Specifically
Had Andrew a little patient, he could have ...
0
votes
1answer
41 views
inversion: with great power comes
#1 below is an instance of inversion, i.e., the subject "great responsibility" follows the verb "comes."
I'd like to know whether this inversion is optional; is #2 correct?
With great power ...
2
votes
1answer
58 views
Is “Hardly…when” an idiom?
I know that if I start my sentence with an adverb such as hardly I must invert the subject and the verb,but do I really need to use only "when" afterwards?.For instance,is
Hardly had I entered ...
-1
votes
1answer
61 views
Whether the sentence is the inversion type or not?
I ran across a sentence from the magazine 'Esquire' through the internet. I'd like to know whether the sentence is the inversion type or not.
Always does he throw the disorder into everything he ...
3
votes
2answers
56 views
{be verb} + {subject}
Written by people more or less knowledgeable about the subject and about the history of technology, these accounts tend to focus on the unusual and the spectacular, be it people or lines of research, ...
3
votes
1answer
217 views
Usage of “at” in “… at the cottage just over my shoulder is where they had been growing cannabis”
Here's a British news report:
And this is what I've transcribed:
Well, last August when it was found that Neil and Yvette Hartley had...had been growing almost 90 cannabis plants, little did their ...
1
vote
1answer
71 views
Asking a question as part of a sentence
I was wondering what is the grammar rule to include a question as a part of a sentence? Here are some examples:
Example 1:
Can you tell what am I missing? vs. Can you tell me what I am missing?
...
0
votes
2answers
56 views
How to use “As……,so……”
Yesterday, I saw a sentence in my textbook. It goes,
As people change, so languages change.
To me, it also means: The language changes in the same way people change.
However, what makes me ...
1
vote
6answers
87 views
May not only take… but also it MAY
In this inversion sentence, do I have to use "may" in the relative clause again?
(Assuming you are not sure, that's why you are including "may" in your sentence)
"Robbery may not only take ...
0
votes
1answer
38 views
subject vs subject-complement; inversion
Oxford Guide to English Grammar; John Eastwood; Oxford University Press 1994-09
Page 56
We can also sometimes put a complement in front position.
They enjoyed the holiday. Best of all was the ...
0
votes
2answers
40 views
When is inversion between the subject and the object or the subject and the complement possible?
When is inversion between the subject and the object or the subject and the complement possible?
For instance:
I stood at the window watching the kids play. <---> At the window watching the ...
1
vote
1answer
69 views
Can an inverted sentence start with an adjective?
The following sentence is cited from "gone with the wind":
A little aloof, as became an aristocrat, lay a black-spotted carriage
dog, muzzle on paws, patiently waiting for the boys to go home to
...
2
votes
1answer
33 views
Does this inversion take any effect, “Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape.”?
Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to -- everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful ...
2
votes
1answer
123 views
Inversion in affirmative sentences
The Guardian has recently published an interview with Kurt Volker, who stated that:
“We can have a conversation with Ukraine like we would with any other country about what do they need.”
Source
...
0
votes
1answer
48 views
Why is “are” placed in the middle rather than the end?
I saw the following sentence structure in an American textbook from 2010:
Metal A and B are much more brittle than are metal C and D.
Why is the "are" placed where it is (emphasized in bold)?
...
0
votes
1answer
33 views
questions: possible ways of asking what something does
What does your program?
What does your program do?
What your program does?
What is it that your program does?
Your program does what?
Can anyone help me understand how these questions ...
0
votes
2answers
63 views
Why can the answer not be “if”? ___ the government in Greece postpone
____ the government in Greece postpone the debts of farmers, they can cope with the economic difficulties.
a. could
b. should
c. only if
d. if
e. even if
Why is answer "d" (if) not ...
0
votes
3answers
94 views
Question about WH questions
Here are some interrogative statements which are right/wrong (both in American and British English).
Right-
What took you so long?
Who killed my friend?
What disease took away my ...
2
votes
1answer
121 views
What type of construction is “In came I. I. Chundrigar…” where a preposition “in” is placed before the verb “came”?
In the red-marked line i.e.
In came I.I. Chundrigar, a Bombay barrister, to join the Mad Hatter's dance.
See preposition "In" is placed before verb "came".
What types of syntax is it and what is ...
3
votes
1answer
56 views
Why is there a subject - verb inversion here? “Also under discussion…were the causes…”
From the Order of Malta's website (https://www.orderofmalta.int/press-release/migrants-refugees-rome-meeting-order-of-malta-european-project-managers/):
"Also under discussion over the two days ...
0
votes
2answers
2k views
Neither nor inversion
Neither did she have cracks on her sides, nor was she beautiful.
It's correct, right?
But neither did she have cracks on her sides, nor she was beautiful.
Is it gramatically wrong?
0
votes
1answer
597 views
What is the grammar of “my heart burdened be”?
I have some trouble understanding a line from the song, "You Raise Me Up"
When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary
When troubles come and my heart burdened be
Then, I am still and wait here in ...
0
votes
2answers
38 views
A question about inversion in affirmative sentences
Which is correct?
"In fact it is rather simple, just a story of two children. But in this apparent simplicity the book delivers a wonderful exposition of so great memories, ideas and dreams.
or,
"...
0
votes
1answer
76 views
Yesterday was the lawn mowed
I've just learnt about inversion and I'm not sure if it can be used in sentences which are in present simple or past simple. Can the two following sentences I made be inverted?
Original sentence:
...
2
votes
2answers
104 views
The first thing I can see in this picture ‘are’ 2 people
The first thing I can see in this picture are 2 people
I happened to see this sentence, and it says using 'is' instead of 'are' is wrong.
As I looked up some grammar stuff, you can invert the ...
0
votes
1answer
63 views
Negative-polarity adverbs and inversion sentences
I asked a question here:
Some questions about Inversion sentences
Now, I know that certain negative-polarity adverbs with the main adverb are what triggers inversion, like "not only", "only when", "...
0
votes
1answer
319 views
If : second conditional inversion
teachers!
I'd like to ask you something about conditional inversion.
I'd like to know my sentence is right.
I changed the sentence ' If you were able to see ...' to ' Were you able to see..'
I ...
2
votes
1answer
464 views
Some questions about Inversion sentences
Source: https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/inversion.html
I found this, and it says "We only use inversion when the adverb modifies the whole phrase and not when it modifies the noun."
What ...
0
votes
0answers
20 views
Is this inversion kosher? What is this kind of inversion called?
I didn't want confirmed what I suspected might be true
The adjective and noun seem inverted in this sentence. Is it grammatical? What is this kind of inversion called?
0
votes
1answer
34 views
What grammatical concept is used here? (“A that would have p.p. had B p.p.”)
The following is an excerpt from RFC 2616: Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.1:
§14.13 Content-Length
The Content-Length entity-header field indicates the size of the entity-body, in ...
