76 326 Emphasis (2) inversion and fronting Charles Dickens started his literary career by writing for magazines. Indeed, his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, was serialised in a magazine before being published as a book. Only later did Dickens produce full novels to be Published as complete books. Reasons for inversion and fronting Inversion and fronting are both ways of changing the normal word order of a sentence. + Normal statement word order is subject + verb (Before you start > page 180). Inversion is the word order in questions (Are you ready2), but we also use it for emphasis in statements. Compare: NON-INVERTED He was late and he didn’t apologise. inverrep Not only was he late, but he didn’t (even) apologise. The inverted statement emphasises the inverted action more. + Fronting brings adjectives and adverbs to the beginning of the sentence. Compare: NON-FRONTED The actors were a mixed bunch, Pacino was the least inspiring of the lot. FronteD The actors were a mixed bunch. Least inspiring of the lot was Pacino. The fronted statement places more emphasis on the adjective phrase least inspiring. Subject-auxiliary inversion We invert the auxiliary/modal verb (do, have, should, etc.) and subject after these phrases: Se Lite cid we rea the tue extent of is woh {aig bypscacen eh Lah tole meen meen ea eee ier Pecearalsie Only later did Dickens produce full novels... on eres with a great deal of effort was he able to escape. ese rirent acs) Only if the weather improves will the golf tournament take place. in no way, at. no time, under no At no time during the operation da the patient regain consciousness. circumstances, on no account given. Not ‘is he late, he hasn‘t zt t+ ony ftime expression! ie ee a ee ese ine ayer baen so high Nota single stone was left untumed in the search. 'No sooner had we set out than the skies opened. They have no intention of paying and neither have we. We couldn't face the customers and nor could the boss. ‘May he live to regret this decision! The captain is refusing to play under these conditions and so are the rest of the team. + See also 76.4 opposite Expressions with no, not, etc. not listed above (e.g. no doubt) cannot be inverted: X No-doubt-will-hegivewsakey. / No doubt he will give us a key. We do not invert the subject and auxiliary after only if there is no time expression or prepositional phrase immediately after it: X Only can-nrenibers park there: ¥ Only members can park there. / Only on Sundays can members park there.3. Subject-verb inversion ‘We occasionally invert a main verb and subject after prepositional phrases (e.g. between the trees) or adverbs of place (e.g. here, there, outside) and adverbs of time (e.g. next, then, first, now, finally). We can use a form of be or verbs of place and movement (e.g. stand, sit, le, come, go, climb, run, sail, fly) before the subject. «= place adverbs/prepositional phrases + be or verbs of place/movement: Here lies the body of our late lamented sovereign. All along one wall climbed a beautiful rambling rose. «time adverbs + be or verbs of place/movement: For the frst hour the teams seemed evenly ‘matched, Then came the turning point in the game as Ed scored. ‘That was the final instalment of the book of the week. Next is the news. ‘We often use this pattern to form a link with the information in the previous sentence, and it is common in formal literary English. A. We don’t use inversion if the subject of the clause is a pronoun: 2X Here-comes-it: Here comes the bus. y Here it comes. We can also use inversion in as and than clauses in formal English: Mr Slater is expecting a pay rise, as are several other salesmen in the team. Social security officials are far more vigorous in handling suspect benefit claimants than is the Inland Revenue in dealing with suspected tax evasion. Inversion is common in certain fixed expressions, often with subjunctives (> Unit 40.1): So be it. Long live the king! 4 Fronting adjective and adverbial phrases ‘We can place the following at the beginning of the sentence with inversion of the subject and a form of the verb be: * We can front vetbs and adjectives using as and though (> Unit 60.2) Tryas she might, she simply couldn't open the am jar. Battered though he was, he never lost his wil to succeed. 5 Fronting objects and complements In literary language, we also front previously mentioned objects or complements: ‘The house was large and sprawling, with two wings and a dark attic. Hilary spent most of her time in the drawing room or the garden. The attic she rarely visited. Ben awaited his new roommate anxiously. He hoped that ite was intelligent and talkative. ‘Then Oliver arrived. Intelligent he certainly was, but in every other way Ben was disappointed. 3277G csupsasis cy mwveRsion ano sRONTING 1 328 Practice Choose the best option, or C, to complete these short extracts. Sometimes more than one option may be possible. EERE Listen and check. [1] Mrs Sugden meant no harm to anyone, but..... the intelligence to be really kind ' From Enigma Varations by kere Young ‘A neither she had B neither had she C she had neither He could hear the pursuers getting closer. They were almost upon him, reaching out for him, the Pounding of their boots ringing in his ears, yet ..... his legs would not respond. From Wall Games by Michaet Dobbs A try as hard as he might B try as hard as might he C as hard as he might try (3)... when the spectators began to return to the slope above the melon beds, coming in greater ' numbers than ever before. From The Siege of Kish by 1G Fare The rains had hardly stopped B Hardly had the rains stopped Hardly the rains had stopped o> [2] _ Inthe first bedroom a door opened onto a short flight of rickety steps that led to an attic. Ward had. ‘often threatened to have it converted into a work room but, ... with most attics, it remained nothing more than a storehouse for junk that wasn’t wanted elsewhere in the cottage. From Heathen by Shaun Huson a A the case is B as the case is C asis the case ‘There were three of them. Roberta — she was aways called Bobbie, and was the oldest. ..., who wanted to be an engineer when he grew up. And the youngest was Phyllis, who was always trying to be good From The Raivey Chien by Nesbit ‘A Peter next came B Came next Peter C Next came Peter (6) “That was despicable.’ ‘You were not sick unto death,’ retorted Joan. ‘And since .... the prince’s heart, ' how could | have stolen it from you?’ From The Ch Brice by Pip Wai at no time have you possessed _B at no time you have possessed at no time possessed you a> 17] tt appeared that, despite the age gap, they'd become quite good friends. And then, since her father’s fatal heart attack eighteen months ago, .... to come to terms with his loss, to face the grief and despair at the thought of never seeing him again, than her mother’s letters and telephone calls had begun to fill her with stunned horror. Abseiling, at fifty-eight? From Calypso’ ad by Rosa Ash ‘A no sooner she had slowly started B no sooner that she had slowly started no sooner had she slowly started (8] And now, her face straight, her lips seeming to quiver, she went into the song; and ..... 50 touching ' the cadences, so tender with longing the words, that she seemed transformed before their eyes. from My Beloved Son by Catherine Cookson A so beautiful her rendering of it was _B so beautiful was her rendering of it C her rendering of it so beautiful was2 inten of the following sentences there are mistakes with word order and missing auxiliaries. Find and correct the mistakes, changing the verb form if necessary. Tick (/) the correct sentences. ‘The team is going to complain about this and so is the referee. Little we knew the full extent of his involvement in the fraud. ‘The sales director is resigning, as most of the marketing team. Over in the corner stood the three-metre tall statue of Lenin, The embassy refuses to intervene. Well, so it be. ‘The council promised to put on a great display. And put they on a great display. Under no circumstances will latecomers be admitted to the auditorium. Now the time is for wise investors to think seriously about buying Treasury Bonds. Rarely the early explorers had encountered such friendly and positive attitudes. 10. Not since Kubrick’s 2001 has a director made such an intellectually challenging sci-fi movie. Mane ee 11 The government's proposals are unrealistic, as those are of the opposition. 12 Opposite this house did the old city walls run. 13 Only after climbing onto the roof he managed to escape from the rising flood waters. 14 No doubt didn’t he realise the consequences of his actions, 3 Make these sentences more emphatic by ‘fronting’ part of them. Do not use any additional words. (DERE Listen and check. 0 I can tolerate criticism but I can’t stand hypocrisy. Jean. tolerate, criticism but hypocrisy I. ¢ ™ 1 Though he was exhausted, he managed to reach the finishing line. 2 Selim’sife's ambition is to make the pilgrimage to Makkah. 3. The New Confessions is Boyd’s most complete work. 4. The school governors realy can’t accept that proposal. 5. An enormous flower display was placed on the table. 6 The Cresta Run is much more challenging for the dedicated skier. 7. Several sharp criticisms of ministerial conduct were also included in the report. 8 An elderly man was lying in the shop doorway. 9 It proved impossible to get to the bottom of the mystery. 10 ‘The damage was so severe that the pilot couldn't regain control. Ce 32°