0
Jooney Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Inversion
Hi,
It could not have taken more than a few terrifying seconds from the moment the S.U.V.’s driver lost control on an elevated highway on Sunday to the moment it came to a violent rest about 60 feet below, in a nonpublic area of the Bronx Zoo. The vehicle’s seven occupants, spanning three generations of a Bronx family, were killed on impact, their bodies still inside.
Outside the S.U.V., scattered in the shade of a late April sun, were the remnants of what had been: a workbook from St. Lucy’s School in the Bronx, a leather purse, a diaper bag, a DVD from the Hellboy fantasy series— all spread out next to the S.U.V., its damaged frame and its occupants turned upside down.
Outside the S.U.V. were the remnants of what had been her work book, etc.
According to my grammar book, a sentence type like the one in bold is called subject-dependent inversion. It is a type of an inversion where the subject occurs in postposed position while some other dependent of the verb is preposed.
In an inversion like this, the preposed element, which is the subject of the sentence, is discourse-old while the postposed element is discourse-new.
Q1) The example above fits into the definition of subject-dependent inversion, correct?
Q2) What is the grammatical function of the underlined part? It is not part of the inversion, is it? It seems to modify the part that come right after the "be" verb, namely, "the remnants".
I'd appreciate your help.
It could not have taken more than a few terrifying seconds from the moment the S.U.V.’s driver lost control on an elevated highway on Sunday to the moment it came to a violent rest about 60 feet below, in a nonpublic area of the Bronx Zoo. The vehicle’s seven occupants, spanning three generations of a Bronx family, were killed on impact, their bodies still inside.
Outside the S.U.V., scattered in the shade of a late April sun, were the remnants of what had been: a workbook from St. Lucy’s School in the Bronx, a leather purse, a diaper bag, a DVD from the Hellboy fantasy series— all spread out next to the S.U.V., its damaged frame and its occupants turned upside down.
Outside the S.U.V. were the remnants of what had been her work book, etc.
According to my grammar book, a sentence type like the one in bold is called subject-dependent inversion. It is a type of an inversion where the subject occurs in postposed position while some other dependent of the verb is preposed.
In an inversion like this, the preposed element, which is the subject of the sentence, is discourse-old while the postposed element is discourse-new.
Q1) The example above fits into the definition of subject-dependent inversion, correct?
Q2) What is the grammatical function of the underlined part? It is not part of the inversion, is it? It seems to modify the part that come right after the "be" verb, namely, "the remnants".
I'd appreciate your help.
Top answer
jooney Q1) The example above fits into the definition of subject-dependent inversion, correct? Correct as I see it. Yes.
- jooney Q1) The example above fits into the definition of subject-dependent inversion, correct?
- Correct as I see it.
- Yes.
- jooney Q2) What is the grammatical function of the underlined part?
- It is not part of the inversion, is it?
Get the Weekly English Kit 📬
New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.
7 Answers
0
jooneyQ1) The example above fits into the definition of subject-dependent inversion, correct?Correct as I see it. Yes.
jooneyQ2) What is the grammatical function of the underlined part? It is not part of the inversion, is it?I believe it is another inversion.
The uninverted version is
The remnants of wha
00
0
I have a question, CJ.
Outside the S.U.V., scattered in the shade of a late April sun, were the remnants of what had been.
The inverted version of this is as follows:
The remnants of what had been were outside the S.U.V., scattered in the shade of a late April sun.
Isn't the underlined part an adjective phrase functioning as predicat
Outside the S.U.V., scattered in the shade of a late April sun, were the remnants of what had been.
The inverted version of this is as follows:
The remnants of what had been were outside the S.U.V., scattered in the shade of a late April sun.
Isn't the underlined part an adjective phrase functioning as predicat
00
jooneyIsn't the underlined part an adjective phrase functioning as predicative adjunct?Not to my ear. I hear this as
The remnants were scattered (verb).
The remnants were scattered in the shade of a late April sun. (where they were scattered)
Adding the rest in either possible place adds more information about where they were scattered
00
The tests for 'scattered' being an adjective are inconclusive.
First of all, it says in my grammar book that "very" provides a sufficient but not a necessary test for adjectival status.
ex) The new recruits were assembled outside the officers' mess.
First of all, it says in my grammar book that "very" provides a sufficient but not a necessary test for adjectival status.
ex) The new recruits were assembled outside the officers' mess.
00
jooneya) The remnants were scattered in the shade of a late April sun outside the S.U.V.
b) The remnants were scattered outside the S.U.V. in the shade of a late April sun.
What is the difference in meaning between the two? Isn't it true that both sentences convey the same information?
00
Related Questions