Fronting and Inversion

Grammar I: Notes from PPT

Unit 3: Fronting and Inversion

There are syntactic options available to structure information in a sentence in different ways. Among
these options we can mention: fronting and inversion.

Fronting consists in the movement of a word, phrase, or clause to the beginning of the sentence.
In other words, fronting takes place when part of a sentence in the predicate is moved from its
normal position to the beginning of the sentence.
When we front a constituent, we focus attention to that part of a sentence, as we change the normal
sentence order. The constituent moved to the front might be the object, the subject complement, an
adverbial or some clause element.

 It is quite common to front optional adverbials or clause elements:

On Tuesday I hope to return home.
When we get home, let’s watch a video.

 In these examples, the fronted element is the Od

She keeps causing me a lot of trouble. This type of problem I can’t ignore any longer.
Fronting is used to focus on Od and link it to the first sentence.

She was wearing gloves and a scarf. The scarf [Od] she had bought in the sales.

Fronted elements may perform a contrastive function as in the following examples:

A: Do you swim or run for exercise?
B: Swimming I do every day, but running, very seldom. [Fronted elements: Od]

Christmas I like best; Thanksgiving I like least.

Inversion is closely connected with fronting. Now we’ll look at two

main types of inversion:
(1) subject-verb inversion and
(2) subject-auxiliary (operator) inversion

[1] Subject-verb inversion [handout item (i) pp.108-110]

Inversion happens when we reverse (invert) the normal word order of the subject and the verb.
In this type of inversion, the subject is preceded by the entire verb phrase. This change in word order
is triggered by some element other than the subject being placed in initial position. We’ll list here the
elements that trigger this type of inversion.

Prof. Stefania Tomasini

Groups B/ E/ FG 1
Grammar I (2023): Fronting / Inversion
Supplementary Material

Subject-verb inversion can happen when the adverbs of place “here” and
here and there (a) “there” are placed in initial position. These sentences/statements are quite
informal.

Here comes Peter now.

V S
There are my keys.
V S

Note: we can’t apply inversion if the subject is a pronoun.

Here he comes.
There they are.

Subject-verb inversion can take place when we front adverbs/adverbials of

some adverbs of time and sequence such as first, then, next, after that.
time and sequence
(b) And now let’s have a look at the rest of the evening's programmes.
Next is a documentary about sharks.
After that comes the first episode of our new drama series.

We also apply subject-verb inversion after fronting adverbials of place

adverbials / (locatives) or adverbials / adverbs of direction (or movement). In this case,
adverbs of place the verb used is intransitive or linking.
or direction (c-d)
The garage was on the right of the house. (normal word order)
On the right of the house was the garage.
V S

A large white cat sat in the middle of the bed. (normal word order)
In the middle of the bed sat a large white cat.
V S

Up went his hand. "Miss! Miss! I know the answer".

V S
And away goes Tom!
V S

Note: we can’t apply subject-inversion if the subject is a pronoun.

And away he goes!

Stefania Tomasini 2
Grammar I (2023): Fronting / Inversion
Supplementary Material

[2] Subject-auxiliary inversion [handout item (ii) pp.110-116]

Subject-auxiliary inversion occurs when we place a negative or restrictive adverb or
expression at the beginning of the sentence. When we begin a sentence with a negative adverb or
adverbial phrase/clause, we have to change the usual word order of subject and verb (often using
an auxiliary verb). In these cases, the adverb/ adverbial phrase or clause is then followed by the
auxiliary verb + subject (+ verb).

Usually, we put the expression at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize what we're saying. It
makes our sentence sound surprising or striking or unusual. It also sounds quite formal.

The following examples are adverbs and adverbial expressions with a negative or restrictive
meaning, which are followed by inversion when placed first in a sentence.

Negative/Restrictive
Examples / Comments
element
Frequency rarely / I've rarely eaten such a delicious meal.
Adverbs seldom / Rarely have I eaten such a delicious meal. (inverted form)
hardly ever /
never I had never seen so many people in one room.
Never had I seen so many people in one room. (inverted form)

He has never acted so foolishly before.

Never before has he acted so foolishly. (inverted form)

Correlative no sooner … than // He had hardly begun to speak when there was an
pairs: time hardly … when // interruption.
relationships scarcely … when // Hardly had he begun to speak when there was an
barely … when // interruption. (inverted form)

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Grammar I (2023): Fronting / Inversion
Supplementary Material

As soon as we arrived home, the police rang the doorbell.

We had no sooner arrived home than the police rang the
doorbell.
No sooner had we arrived home than the police rang the
doorbell. (inverted form)

 inversion takes place in the 1st part (main clause)

 Tense in the main cl.: past perfect

ONLY + [time expressions] She began to recover only after several week.
phrase / only after … / Only after several weeks did she begin to recover. (inverted
clause only when… / form)
only later/
only then/ I’ll be able to think about this new project only when I’ve
only once/ finished this.
only now/ Only when I’ve finished this will I be able to think about this
only in the last few new project. (inverted form)
days
I only understand the true meaning now.
Only now do I understand the true meaning. (inverted form)

 ONLY + noun/phrase/clause + inversion in the main cl.

[general emphasis] James had discovered where the birds were nesting by
only if … / chance.
only by chance / Only by chance had Jameson discovered where the birds
only in this way / were nesting. (inverted form)
etc.
John could only earn enough money to survive in this way.
Only in this way could John earn enough money to survive.
(inverted form)

Only by patience and hard work will we find a solution.

(inverted form)

NOT + word / expressions of time I didn’t believe John was safe until I saw him.
phrase / not until … / Not until I saw John, did I believe he was safe. (inverted form)
clause not since … /
not once/ I haven’t had so much fun since I was little.
not for one moment/ Not since I was little have I had so much fun. (inverted form)

She wasn’t at home even once when I phoned.

Not even once was she at home when I phoned. (inverted
form)

 NOT + phrase/clause + inversion in the main clause

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Grammar I (2023): Fronting / Inversion
Supplementary Material

emphatic expressions I wouldn’t eat at that restaurant again even if you dragged
not even if …/ me there.
not for + noun / Not even if you dragged me there would I eat at that
not + word (a restaurant again. (inverted form)
penny, a word etc.)
She didn’t say a single word.
Not a single word did she say. (inverted form)

general emphasis We can’t accept the offer under any circumstances.

Expressions under no Under no circumstances can we accept the offer. (inverted
with NO circumstances / form)
on no account /
(in) no way / You should not open this door on any account.
at no time On no account should you open this door. (inverted form)
by no means
I didn’t know she was lying.
At no time did I know she was lying. (inverted form)

nowhere I couldn’t find my keys anywhere else.

Nowhere could I find my keys. (inverted form)

Expression little + verb of She didn’t realise what a stupid remark she had made.
with restrictive cognition (know, Little did she realise what a stupid remark she had made.
meaning realize, etc.) (inverted form)

She had no idea that she was about to be made redundant.

Little did she know that she was about to be made
redundant. (inverted form)

coordinator not only … but also She not only teaches math but also writes textbooks.
(addition) Not only does she teach math, but she also writes
textbooks. (inverted form)

She is not only intelligent but she’s also incredible attractive.

Not only is she intelligent but she's also incredibly attractive.
(inverted form)

 Inversion takes place only in the 1st clause

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Grammar I (2023): Fronting / Inversion
Supplementary Material

Conditional Clauses [Handout (pp. 113-4)]

Inversion can take place in the conditional clause. This is quite formal.
In this case, we can omit the subordinator “if” or other conditional words and start the sentence
as follows depending on the type of conditional clause:

[Real conditional/Type 1 Cond] If you (should) see Kate, say hi form me.
SHOULD … Should you see Kate, say hi from me. (inverted form)

If I were you, I’d stop smoking.

Were I you, I would stop smoking. (inverted form)

If he proposed to you , what would you say?

If he were to propose to you ,
[Unreal conditional/Type 2 Cond] Were he to propose to you now, what would you say?
WERE + subject + to + verb… (inverted form)

If it weren’t for Miguel, we wouldn’t know what to do now.

Were it not for Miguel, we wouldn't know what to do now.
(inverted form)

If we had arrived sooner, we could have prevented this

tragedy!
[Unreal conditional/Type 3 Cond]
Had we arrived sooner, we could have prevented this
HAD + subject + past participle
tragedy! (inverted form)

Adverbial clauses of Result [Handout (p. 115)]

These adverbial clauses are introduced by the correlative pairs “so ... that” and “such ... that”

so + adjective/ adverb ... that She was so exhausted that she went straight to bed.
So exhausted was she that she went straight to bed. (inverted
form)

Our annoyance was such that we refused to cooperate further.

such (+ noun / noun phrase) ...
Such was our annoyance that we refused to cooperate further.
that
(inverted form)

Such was her fear that she couldn't utter a word. (inverted form)

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Grammar I (2023): Fronting / Inversion
Supplementary Material

so positive statement + so
(inversion) auxiliary + Everybody knows that and you should know that, too.
subject [to express Everybody knows that and so should you. (inverted)
agreement]

neither / negative statement + A: But I haven't seen all his films.

nor neither / nor (inversion)
auxiliary + subject
[to introduce a negative
addition to a previous
negative clause so as to
express disagreement]
B: Neither/Nor have I. (I haven’t seen them either)
I hadn't been to New York before and neither had
Jane.
He doesn’t go to the theatre, nor does he visit
museums.

Neither he nor his sister smokes. [to link two subjects]

Neither… nor (correlative
coordinator) (no inversion)
You are neither particularly smart nor good-looking. [to
link two adjectives]

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