WORD ORDER (1) - VERB + OBJECT;PLACE AND TIME.
A)VERB+OBJECT.
THE VERB AND THE OBJECT OF THE VERB NORMALLY GO TOGETHER.WE DO NOT USUALLY PUT OTHER WORDS BETWEEN THEM.
VERB+OBJECT
I LIKE CHILDREN VERY MUCH. (NOT 'I LIKE VERY MUCH CHILDREN')
DID YOU NORMAN YESTERDAY.
ANN OFTEN PLAYS TENNIS.
*HERE ARE SOME OTHER EXAMPLES. NOTICE HOW EACH TIME THE VERB AND THE OBJECT GO TOGETHER:
-DO YOU CLEAN THE HOUSE EVERY WEEKEND ? (NOT 'DO YOU CLEAN EVERY WEEKEND THE
HOUSE')
-EVERYBODY ENJOYED THE PARTY VERY MUCH. (NOT 'EVERYBODY ENJOYED VERY MUCH THE
PARTY')
FOR THE POSITION OF WORDS LIKE ALSO SEE THE NEXT PAGE.
B)PLACE AND TIME.
WE USUALLY SAY THE PLACE (WHERE?) BEFORE THE TIME.(WHEN?/HOW OFTEN?/HOW LONG?)
PLACETIME
TOM WALKS TO WORK EVERY MORNING.(NOT 'TOM WAKS EVERY MORNING TO WORK')
WE HAS BEEN IN CANADA SINCE APRIL.
WE ARRIVED AT AIRPORT EARLY.
*IT IS OFTEN POSSIBLE TO PUT THE TIME AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SENTENCE:
-ON MONDAY I'M GOING TO PARIS.
-IN SUMMER I CYCLED A LOT.
*NOTE THAT YOU CANNOT USE EARLY OR LATE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SENTENCE.
The order of words in which the subject is placed after the predicate is called inveted order or inversion.
Inversion occurs in the following cases:
1.In questions which are not put to the subject, e.g. Where can I find a more interesting book ?
Are they still at home ?
BUT: Who can answer my question ?
2.In exclamatory sentences expressing wish in which the verb is in the Subjunctive Mood,
e.g. Long live the Soviet Army !
May you be happy and crazy !
3.When the sentence is introduced by there, e.g. There was no wind. ~~~~~~
There have been many such incidents.
4.In the following constructions, e.g. You can do it and so can i.
I must leave now.-So must i.
I have never liked detective stories.-Neither have i.
5.In sentences introducing direct speech, e.g. "This is what I want", said my friend.
"I think it's all delightful", murmured Emily.
Inversion may be the result of emphasis, when the author wishes to produce a certain stylistic effect. Here we must distinguish between the following cases:
6.The adverbial modifier of place or time opens the sentences (what is rare).
In this case the subject is generally lengthy or modified by a phrase or a clause,
e.g. Down below spread the town with its wide streets, beautiful buildings, bridges and green parks.
In the centre of the room of the his flat stood the head of the family old Joly on himself.
7.Adverbial modifiers expressed by such words as so, thus, then, here, now, there open the sentence.
In this case the subject is expressed by a noun, e.g. So ended the terrible siege of my flat.
Thus beg
BUT: There she goes. (The subject is expressed by a pronoun.)
8.An adverbial modifier with a negative meaning opens the sentence: never in vain, little, etc.,
e.g. Never have I been so happy as now.
Little did he think about it then.
In vain did he try to persuade his friends to follow his example
9.The emphatic particle only (not only...but) =
The adverbs hardly, scarcely (correlated with | the conjunction when) |open the sentence
The adverb so sooner (correlated with the | conjunction than) |
Or conjunction nor =
e.g. Only then did he understand it.
No sooner had the German pilot caught sight of the soviet plane than began to fire.
Hardly had we started when it began to rain.
They did not come to the meeting. Nor did they telephone the secretary.
10.Adverbial modifiers of amnner expressed by adverbs open the sentence, e.g. Loudly and cheerfully did the children greet him.
Calmly and attentively did they listen to his story.
11.So followed by an adverbial modifier opens the sentence, e.g. So loudly did he speak that everybody could hear him.
So perfectly did he do his work that it won the prize.
12.In vivid speech when the sentence begins with an adverb of direction: in, out, away, down (if the subject is expressed by a noun),
e.g. Out came the chaise.
In rushed the others.
Off went the gun.
BUT: Down he rushed. (The subject is expressed by a pronoun)
13.When an object or an adverbial modifier expressed by a word-group with not a ...,many a ... opens the sentence,
e.g. Not a single mistake did he make.
Many a sleepless night did she spend.
14.When a predicative ( sometimes preceded by so or expressed by such) opens the sentence ( if the subject is expressed by a noun),
e.g. So cold was the night that they made a fire.
Bright and sunny was the morning when we started.
Such were the events of the day !
BUT: A gloomy day it was (The subject is expressed by a pronoun.)
15.In clauses of concession where the predicative is followed by the conjunction as (if the subject is expressed by a noun),
e.g. Cold as was the water, I plunged into it.
Rich as was the merchant, they did not envy him. (Dickens)
BUT: Hard as it was, we did it (The subject is expressed by a pronoun)
16.In conditional clauses in the Subjunctive Mood when the conjunction if is not used, and only with the verbs: had, was, were, should, could,
e.g. Had I more time, I should come to see you more often.
Were it not so late, I should go to the library.
Could he come, we should be very pleased.
17.Any word can be made emphatic by prefacing it with the words it is or it was and using a clause after it,
e.g. It was he who did it.
It was here that I saw them for the first time.