[Grammar] Inversion

[Kotfor]

What would make you use an inversion like this?

In the corner stood a table.

Instead of a classic word order like

There was a table in the corner.

 

[emsr2d2]

Sometimes, it's useful to have a construction which doesn't need "There is" or "There are". In a description of a scene, those words can be overused.

 

[BobK]

:up: Also, if the sentence starts with the adverb phrase, it intensifies the focus. You can make this clearer with a thought experiment. Imagine that what's supposed to be there isn't. Which of these two is more striking?

There was nothing in the corner.

or

In the corner was... nothing.

b

 

[Kotfor]

What about this one? Is inversion mandatory here?

1) Many bargains had he picked up there.

or would it be also OK to say

2) Many bargains he had picked up there.

 

[emsr2d2]

Neither of those would be naturally used but the second is grammatically incorrect too.

 

[Kotfor]

Neither of those would be naturally used but the second is grammatically incorrect too.

You said "incorrect too". Does it mean that 1 is also wrong? I understand that it's not for everyday use and it has a certain style but is 1 really wrong from the grammatical point of view not stylistical?

 

[emsr2d2]

No, I meant that the second is not only unnatural but it is also grammatically incorrect.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

What about this one? Is inversion mandatory here?

1) Many bargains had he picked up there. [That sounds inside-out and stiff, like Yoda's English. Better: He had picked up a lot of bargains there.]

Or would it be also OK to say: [Or and also don't work together here. Use either "And would it also be okay to say" or "Or would it be okay to say."]

2) Many bargains he had picked up there. [No.]

See above.

 

[Matthew Wai]

1) Many bargains had he picked up there.

Is it grammatical to say 'So many bargains had he picked up there'?

 

[BobK]

It depends on your attitude to this sort of 'So'. ;-)

It would be grammatical to say 'So many bargains had he picked up there that he had to take a taxi home'; nobody would say that, but it's grammatical.

Another variant, rather heroic and literary, is 'Many were the battles he had fought in, and many were his scars.'

b