Unit 9 Saving the earth Grammar--Inversion

Grammar-inversion 1.Conferences like the Earth Summit help people understand that there exist serious problems and that there is still time to take action. 2.Among the speakers was China’s then Premier Zhu Rongji, who stressed the need for equality and fairness in the world. 3.Not until we know more will we be able to improve the situation.

Grammar-inversion 4. Only by changing the way we live can we save the earth. 5.Had I known that air conditioners cause so much pollution, I would never have bought one. 6.A better understanding of the environment is necessary, as is the willingness to act. 7.Without international cooperation, developing countries cannot prosper, nor will sustainable development be possible.

Grammar-inversion The word order is not subject+ verb but verb + subject or Auxiliary/Modal +subject +verb.

Grammar-inversion 1.Conferences like the Earth Summit help people understand that there exist serious problems and that there is still time to take action. 2.Among the speakers was China’s then Premier Zhu Rongji, who stressed the need for equality and fairness in the world. full inversion.

Grammar-inversion 3.Not until we know more will we be able to improve the situation. 4. Only by changing the way we live can we save the earth. partial inversion. In most cases, an auxiliary verb or a modal verb comes before the subject and rest of the predicate verb comes after. If there is no auxiliary or modal, do, does, or did should be added.

Grammar-inversion 5.Had I known that air conditioners cause so much pollution, I would never have bought one. If I had known that air conditioners cause so much pollution, I would never have bought one.

Grammar-inversion 6.A better understanding of the environment is necessary, as is the willingness to act. 7.Without international cooperation, developing countries cannot prosper, nor will sustainable development be possible. In this case, the structure as/nor+auxiliary/modal/do(does,did)+subject should be used.”neither” and “so” can be used like “nor” and “as”.

Change these sentences into the usual word order sentences. 1.It is a special sentences pattern like “there be” structure. So “exist” can only come after “there”. 2.China’s then Premier Zhu Rongji was among the speakers, who stressed the need for equality and fairness in the world. 3.We will not be able to improve the situation until we know more. 4.We can save the earth only by changing the way we live.

Change these sentences into the usual word order sentences. 5.If I had known that air conditioners cause so much pollution, I would never have bought one. 6.A better understanding of the environment is necessary, and the willingness to act is necessary, too. 7.Without international cooperation, developing countries can’t prosper.Sustainable development will not be possible either.

Summary and Explanation If the predicate verb is placed before the subject, the sentence is said to be in inverted word-order. Such a word-order is called inversion. We use inversion for two reasons: 1.the need of the grammatical structure of a given type of sentence. 2.emphasis of a certain part of a sentence, and in a number of other cases.

Summary and Explanation There are two main kinds of inversion. 1.In some cases the whole verb comes before the subject. This kind of inversion is called full inversion. 2.In most cases, an auxiliary verb or a modal verb comes before the subject and the rest of the predicate verb comes after. If there is no auxiliary or modal verb, “do, does, did” should be added. This kind of inversion is called partial inversion.

Summary of the inverted cases 1.In the following cases, the whole predicate comes before the subject. (1).In the construction ”there be” for existence. There are some books on the table. Note: Some other verbs can be used with “there” besides “to be”. Such as: live, exist, remain, come, arise, appear, enter, follow and so on. There remains nothing to be done. There came shouts for help from the river.

Summary of the inverted cases (2).when the sentence begins with one of the adverbs, such as: here, there, now, then, out, away, up ,down,off,back,over There goes the bell! In rushed the children. Note: There he comes. Out she ran. (3) The sentence begins with such Such was Albert Einstein. Such are the facts.

Summary of the inverted cases (4).the sentence begins with a long adverbial expression of place, especially a prepositional phrase denoting place. Between the two buildings stands a tall tree. South of the city lies a steel factory. (5).* “Help!” shouted the boy. * “I’ve had enough” said John. *“why?” the teacher asked him. *“Both, sir.” he answered proudly.

Summary of the inverted cases (6) Balance the sentence structure *They reached a farmhouse, in front of which sat a boy. *Inside the pyramids are the rooms for the bodies of the kings and queens.

Summary of the inverted cases 2. In the following cases part of the predicate comes before the subject. (1) “so, neither, nor” *-- my brother is ill this week. --so is my sister. *--I can’t speak French. --Nor can I. *-- That’s Isabel, look! -- So it is.

Summary of the inverted cases (2) never, seldom, hardly, scarcely, barely, rarely, little, not, nowhere, by no means, in no way, at no time, neither…(nor) *Neither will theory do without practice; nor will practice do without theory. *Little Mary often play the piano.

Summary of the inverted cases (3) Not only…, but (also)…; no sooner…than…; hardly/scarcely…when…; not until…; so… that…; such… that… * So fast does light travel that it is difficult for us to imagine its speed. * Not until all the fish died in the river did the villagers realize how serious the problem was. * Hardly had I arrived when I had a new problem to cope with.

Summary of the inverted cases (4) Only * Only then did I realize that I was wrong. * Only in this way can you succeed. Only John knows the answer.

Summary of the inverted cases (5) If *Had you (= If you had) not helped me, I’d have failed. * Should he (=if he should) come, tell him to ring me up. (6) In questions * Have you finished your writing? * Does John come from America?

Summary of the inverted cases Inversion is not always used in questions. 1) * what happened to Mary? * How many people are listening to the lecture? 2) * You’ve seen John? *I wondered whether he’d seen John?

Summary of the inverted cases (7) Blessing or concession * May you succeed! * Long live the peace of the world!

Summary of the inverted cases 3. In adverbial clause introduced by “as” or “though” predicative Adverbial + as (though) + subject +… Verb Try as she might, she failed. Child as she was, she had to make a living. 1) Though she is young, she knows a lot. Young though she is, she knows a lot.

Summary of the inverted cases 2) When the predicative is a countable noun in singular, “a” or “an” should be left out. *Hero as he is, he has some shortcomings.