Inverted Subject-

VerbGROUP 9

MAYAELOK ROFIQOH NUGRAHANI

INDRIANANUR LAILIYAH JAMIL

What is it?Normal Sentence : You are tired. (The verb follows the subject)

Question form : Are you tired? (The verb precedes the subject)In statement, it is usual for the verb to follow the subject, but sometimes this word order is reversed. We can refer to this as inversion.

The FuctionsTo make the sentences more interesting.To put more emphasis on the front word or phrase.To provide a logical transition from the previous sentence to the current sentence.to provide a smooth and vivid transition to a topic that is closely related to the context.to link two clauses and require inversion.to create a more formal alternative for conditionals.

Types of InversionThere are two main types of inversion :V + S• e.g In the door way stood her

father.Auxiliary + S + V that follows S• e.g Rarely had he seen such a

sunset.

Where does it occur?Adverbial Fronting• With place expressions• Participle phrases• Adjective verbs• Comparison phrases• With negatives• Conjunctive adverbs• Conditional inversionQuestionsThere Sentences

With Place Expression

e.g– Into the room a king penguin ran.

Into the room ran a king penguin.–All the money we had lost was on the

table.On the table was all the money we had lost.

The subject-verb inversion occurs if the place expression occurs first in the sentence.

NOTE : The inversion is necessary only if the place expression is needed to complete the sentence.

Take a look at these examples.– In the forest are many exotic birds.

Normal form : Many exotic birds are in the forest.“In the forest” is needed to complete the sentence, so it cannot be omitted.

– In the forest I walked for many hours.Normal form : I walked for many hours in the forest.“In the forest” can be omitted from the sentence. So it becomes : I walked for many hours

With NegativesThe subject and verb are inverted when negative expressions and words that act like negatives come at the beginning of a sentence.

• Time adverbials• Only as time expression• Negative expressions• Expressions starting with Not• Little with negative meaning

e.g– I barely understood the material

given yesterday.Barely did I understand the material given yesterday.

–The phone started ringing soon after he had locked the door.No sooner had he locked the door than the phone started ringing.

Time AdverbialsNever(before), rarely, seldom; barely/hardly/scarcely...; no sooner...than

e.g–She only sat down and tried to

relax when the last person had left.Only when the last person had left did she sit down and try to relax.

–You can only play after lunch.Only after lunch can you play.

Only as time expressionOnly when, only after ...

e.g–You cannot inform the staff about the

imminent changes in any circumstances.Under no circumstances can you inform the staff about the imminent changes.

– I am not related to the suspect in any way.In no way am I related to the suspect.

Negative ExpressionsUnder/In no circumstances, In no way ...

e.g–You were not only late, but you also

did not have a good excuse either.Not only were you late , but also you didn’t even have a good excuse.–You cannot get all the swimming

gear out of the drawers until June.Not until June can you get all the swimming gear out of the drawers.

Expression starting with NotNot + a noun, not only...but also, not until....

e.g–She didn’t really understand what the

conversation was about.Little did she understand what the conversation was about.–Michael doesn’t really know that his

daughter has been failing all her subjects at school.Little does Michael know that his daughter has been failing all her sucjects at school.

Little with negative meaningLittle

e.g–Sally does not want to go. Jack also

does not want to go. (neither)Sally does not want to go, and neither does Jack.

–The secretary is not attending the meeting. Her boss is not attending the meeting, too. (nor)The secretary is not attending, nor is her boss.

The subject and verb are also inverted when negative expressions (neither, nor) appear in front of a subject and verb in the middle of a sentence.

With ConditionalsIn conditional sentence, we can omit the word “if” and invert the following subject and auxiliary (had, were, should) to create a more formal alternative.

There are three conditional types which invertion of subject-verb can be applied. The two of them (type 2 and 3) are hypothetical conditionals, which is, contrary-to-fact conditionals.

• Conditional type 1In formal context, we can omit “if” and start the sentence with should.

e.g– If you need more information, contact our unit in Green City.Should you need more information, contact our unit in Green City.– If you don’t change your mind, please let me know.Should you not change your mind, please let me know.

• Conditional type 2We use be to to in a formal way to express condition. It suggests that the speaker has no influence over whether the condition will be fulfilled nor not. In a conditional sentence, we can omit “if” and start the sentence with were.e.g– If the vote were to go against me, I

would resign.Were the vote to go against me, I would resign.

– If you were to agree, he would probably become the next coach.Were he to agree, he would probably become the next coach.

e.g– If you were a brighter fellow, you

would go along with the scheme.Were you a brighter fellow , you would go along with the scheme.

– If I were you, I would stop smoking.Were I you, I would stop smoking.

• Conditional type 2If + S + were + O = Were + S + O

• Conditional type 3We use Past Perfect in the if-clause when we are thinking about how things might have been different. In this type of conditional, we can omit if and start the sentence with had.

e.g– If I had believed her for once, I wouldn’t

have refused to help.Had I believed her for once, I wouldn’t have refused to help.

– If I had known about Mr. Smith’s behaviour sooner, I would have fired him immediately.Had I known about Mr. Smith’s behaviour sooner, I would have fired him immediately.

e.g– If the people had not been informed, the

situation would have been much worse.False : Hadn’t the people been informed, the situation would have been much worse.True : Had the people not been informed , the situation would have been much worse.

– If it had been for your grade, mother would have bought a computer for you.False : Had been it for your grade, mother would have bought a computer for you.True : Had it been for your grade, mother would have bought a computer for you.

With ComparisonsIn formal written language, we commonly use inversion after as and than in comparisons.

e.g–The cake was excellent. The cake was as

excellent as the cake.The cake was excellent, as was the coffee.

–Research shows that parents watch more television than their children do.Research shows that parents watch more television than do their children.

NOTE :When the subject is pronoun, we cannot invert it with the verb.

e.g–We now know a lot about the Universe.

We didn’t know this much ten years ago.We now know a lot more about the Universe than we did ten years ago.

–She used to meet him everyday, but now she only meets him twice a week.She meets him less frequent these days than she used to do.

THANK YOUFROM : GROUP 9