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Improve Your Writing with
Inversion, Part One |
In English, the traditional word order of a statement is
subject + verb. Never do we change the order except when
asking a question. Or do we?
If you listened closely, you may have noticed that my
statement beginning with the word “never” failed to
follow the usual order. I put the auxiliary verb “do”
before the subject “we” and the main verb “change” after
the subject. Using this word order in statements is
called “inversion.”
We use inversion to add emphasis to statements and
variety to our writing. Inversion can “make[s] our
sentence[s] sound surprising or striking or unusual,”
writes Seonaid Beckwich. She is founder of the website
Perfect-English-Grammar.com.
But inversion is not for everyday speech. English
speakers use it in formal statements, and most often in
writing, such as in essays and works of literature. And,
it is only done with some words and phrases.
There are more than 15 types of inversion, but only some
are used in academic writing. Today we will show you how
to use a few types. When used the right way, inversion
can strengthen points and make your writing more
memorable. Another reason for learning inversion is that
examples appear on the TOEFL, or Test of English as a
Foreign Language.
How inversion works
Getting word order right in inversion is important. So
let’s start there. There are two ideas worth
remembering:
The first is that many types of inversion use the
auxiliary verb + subject + main verb word order.
Auxiliary verbs – such as be, do and have -- are verbs
that help form a verb tense, mood or voice of main
verbs.
The second is that inversion usually puts the thing we
want to emphasize at the beginning of the sentence. One
example might be the adverb “never” in my earlier
statement.
Intro –ED
One type of inversion common both in academic writing
and on the TOEFL is starting a statement with the past
participle.
In this inversion, the word order is past participle +
BE + the subject. Listen to the following reading about
television viewership in the United States. Then try to
find the inversion.
Gone are the days when American families would gather
around a television program at its scheduled time.
Today’s viewers want to watch their programs on-demand.
And, they often binge-watch whole series, whether on
cable TV or the Internet.
Did you find the inversion? It begins with the word
“Gone.” But that statement has more than one clause in
it, which is very common in English. “Gone are the days”
is the main clause.
The other is a relative clause: “when American families
would gather around a television program at its
scheduled time.”
Notice that the relative clause does not use inversion.
That is important. Often, statements that use inversion
contain more than one clause and only one of the clauses
contains inversion.
You will also notice that there was only one inversion
in the example. Inversion is something that you should
avoid overusing.
Negative adverbs
Now, let’s move to inversions involving a negative word
or phrase. These are very common in essay writing and on
the TOEFL. For these, the negative word or term almost
always begins the statement. Think back to my statement
with the negative adverb “Never.”
In addition to “never,” you can use inversion with the
negative adverbs “rarely,” “seldom,” “hardly” and
“scarcely.”
Listen to the following sentence, a factual statement
one might find in an essay:
Punishment is rarely severe for attackers who are found
guilty.
It is a well-written statement that does not use
inversion. But if we wanted to note how rare it is for
attackers to be punished severely, we could move the
negative adverb “rarely.” Listen for the inversion in
this reworded statement:
Rarely is punishment severe for attackers who are found
guilty.
Putting “rarely” first makes the point more striking.
Notice also that there are two clauses in this
statement, and the relative clause “who are found
guilty” does not use inversion.
Negative phrases
In addition to negative adverbs, there are also many
negative phrases that use inversion. Some examples are
phrases like “not only…but also,” (and) “not until” and
“not since.” Unlike for negative adverbs, which can go
anywhere in a sentence, for some negative phrases,
inversion is a requirement, not a choice.
Now, let’s look at “not only…but also.” It often uses
inversion, but that is only required when the “not only”
part begins the statement.
Using “Not only…but also” shows that something has more
than one quality or has done more than one action, where
the action or quality after “but also” is especially
notable.
In academic writing, this phrase can be effective for
making an argument. Here’s an example in a persuasive
essay about automobiles:
There are a number of advantages to owning a hybrid car.
Not only do hybrids run cleaner than gasoline, but they
also have better gas mileage. And those are just the
environmental benefits. Other benefits, such as tax
credits and a higher resale value, are financial.
The statement with “not only…but also” uses inversion in
the first clause, “Not only do hybrids run cleaner than
gasoline.” And it follows the auxiliary verb + subject +
main verb construction. The negative phrase “not only”
appears first, followed by “do,” then the subject
“hybrid cars,” then the main verb “run.”
In the second clause, which has “but also,” there is no
inversion. This is the structure to follow when using
inversion for “not only…but also.”
Something to note about the wording: The word “also” can
be left out completely or replaced with “too” at the end
of the statement.
Using inversion can be difficult for English learners.
But it is useful in adding emphasis and variety to
academic writing.
I’m Alice Bryant.
Alice Bryant wrote this story for VOA Learning English.
George Grow was the editor. |
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