Inverted sentences reverse the normal subject-verb order, often for emphasis. Questions in English usually start with a verb, while time-limiting phrases and conditional clauses can also be inverted. Subordinate clauses can also be inverted for emphasis. It is important to ensure subject-verb agreement in inverted sentences.
A reversed sentence is one in which the normal order of a subject followed by a verb is reversed. A question is the most common type of sentence that gets reversed. Often, an inverted sentence begins with a word that deserves emphasis, such as a negative or time-limiting sentence. With word order taking an unusual form in reversed sentence structure, it is important to correctly identify the subject so that the subject and verb match in number.
In some languages, the word order of a question may not be reversed and the intonation of the voice may indicate the question. A question in English, however, is often constructed with a verb first. For example, the question could be asked, “Do you go to school?” An alternative form without the verb first would be “Are you going to school?” with the voice raised to indicate a question.
Sentences that begin with time-limiting words or phrases, such as “rarely,” “almost never,” and “never,” are usually reversed. A sentence constructed in this way emphasizes the rarity or impossibility of the action, such as “I rarely get my wife’s approval.” This structure can also be used to emphasize a conditional constraint, as with the phrases “not only” and “not until.”
A conditional sentence with the “if” omitted is best expressed in an inverted form. For example, “If I was sick, I would miss school” would be constructed as “If I were sick, I would miss school.” This construction is considered somewhat formal and rigid.
Many sentences can be reversed if they start with a subordinate clause. The most common clauses introducing a reversed sentence indicate a place. “An ugly troll lived under the bridge” and “A flag was flying above the school” are examples.
Subordinate clauses can also be inverted and, like sentences, can convey a certain emphasis that would not be present in the absence of the inversion. This structure sometimes replaces one in which a proposition would be connected by a conjunction to the main thought. An example is: “The audience was silent at the curtain call, so bad was the performance.” The normal sentence structure would be: “The audience was silent at the curtain call because the performance was bad.”
Close attention should be paid to the numerical agreement between subject and verb in an inverted sentence. “Three flags hang from the roof” is an inverted sentence with “flags” as the subject. So the verb “hang” must have a plural form. It might be easy to confuse “roof” with the subject of this sentence and use the singular form of the verb.
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