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Is this sentence an inversion?

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ESL Forums | English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms

Play vs. game | Idiom: "to see red"

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#1 (permalink) Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:52 am Is this sentence an inversion?

Hi everybody Please help me with this sentence Included in the list is one book What kind of sentence it is? Is there any rule for making this kind of sentence? Does it mean In the list is included one book? thanks in advance Jupiter

Zana
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#2 (permalink) Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:35 am Inversion?

Guest wrote:

Please help me with this sentence
Included in the list is one book

What kind of sentence it is?
Is there any rule for making this kind of sentence?

Does it mean In the list is included one book?

Both of these sentences mean, "One book is included in the list."

This involves moving a phrase to the front of the sentence. In one we have moved the whole verb phrase (VP), and in the second we have moved only the prepositional phrase (PP). See if you can follow this:

Moving the verb phrase to the front:

VP

VP

Moving the prepositional phrase to the front:

PP

PP

When we move a full phrase to the front like this, we have the option of inverting the subject and the auxiliary, or sometimes even the subject and the main verb. Sometimes the inversion is obligatory.

The rules for when you can and can't invert are a bit complicated. However, in the case of this sentence, I think inversion is optional when the prepositional phrase is fronted:

But it seems obligatory when you move the whole verb phrase:

But not:

(Very bad!)

It looks like it's ungrammatical to leave the helping verb hanging at the end after the main verb has been moved to the front.

Sorry I can't give you any absolutes, but you know how English is! Let's hope one of the others has something to add.

Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)

Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5328
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA

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#3 (permalink) Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:13 am Thanks

Thank Jamie (K) Your answers are always helpful and useful for me I learned a lot from you Thank so much Jupiter

Jupiter
I'm here quite often ;-)

Joined: 15 Dec 2005
Posts: 207
Location: Cambodia

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Play vs. game | Idiom: "to see red"

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