Starting a sentence with a verb?

Question

Hi,Are there any rules as to when it is grammatically correct to start a normal sentence (not a question or an imperative) with a verb?An example:Attached to this email is ...Would it also be correct to say:Investigated (here) were the effects of ...Peter

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]Hi, Are there any rules as to when it is grammatically correct to start a normal sentence (not a question ... Attached to this email is ... Would it also be correct to say: Investigated (here) were the effects of ...[/nq]
1. There are no such rules. Acceptability ofusage simply depends on familiarity (which
changes over time.)

2. Here case 1 is OK and case 2 is not OK..(Case 1 would not have been OK 150 years ago.)

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, Are there any rules as to when it is grammatically correct to start a normal sentence (not a question or an imperative) with a verb?[/nq]
Some verb forms go naturally at the beginning of a declarative (what I think you mean by "normal") sentence; some don't.
[nq:1]An example: Attached to this email is ...[/nq]
"Attached" is the past tense form of "attach." This sort of inversion is possible with a few such forms, e.g., "enclosed," but most of the time you wind up with something clumsy if not downright idiomatic.
The past participle, which in regular English verbs has the same form as the past tense, is common at the beginning of delcarative sentences. It is used to modify the subject. "Encouraged by his test scores, John appliled to Harvard for admission." "Spoken in more than 100 nations, English is the most widely used language in the world." The participle functions as an adjective in such sentences, and non-participial adjectives can be used the same way: "Angry at his entire family, John stormed out of the house."

The present participle can be used in similar fashion: "Strolling up to the ticket window, John asked for four tickets to 'Gone with the Wind'."
[nq:1]Would it also be correct to say: Investigated (here) were the effects of ...[/nq]
This is a use of the past tense form with an inversion, and it does not work well with the verb "investigate." There is nothing ungrammatical about such a usage, but it's usually perceived as stilted and is probably best avoided except where some sort of emphasis is desired. I realize this sort of thing shows up frequently in scientific papers when the first person is banned, but that doesn't make it any more attractive.
The infinitive with "to" can be used as the subject of a sentence: "To err is human, to forgive divine." or "To know him is to love him."
But when it comes to moving the present tense form of a verb (which is the infinitive form minus "to") to the beginning of a declarative sentence, usage rebels. That includes forms with auxiliaries. You can just barely get by with things like "Come up to the front of the line is what I did," but even then "come" is actually the verb of a dependent clause, not the sentence. The verb of the entire sentence is "is." There are enough imaginative people reading this newsgroup that someone may come up with a sentence that sounds good even though it begins with a present tense verb that is the verb of the sentence. But I can't think of one.
So the answer is that it is quite idiomatic to use some verb forms to start a sentence; that it is grammatical but awkward at best to use other verb forms to start a sentence; and that it is just about impossible to use still other verb forms to start a sentence.

English is like that.

Liebs

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, Are there any rules as to when it is grammatically correct to start a normal sentence (not a question ... to this email is ... Would it also be correct to say: Investigated (here) were the effects of ... Peter[/nq]
The two examples you have given are fine. I wonder if they seem fine because the verbs are formed with perfect participial adjectives. Also, the passive voice is being used. Especially in your first example, the similarity to the German "Zustandspassiv" is quite striking.

I have seen formations similar to the second example in the abstracts, or summaries, of scholarly articles.
I think you could also use present tense in the second example:

"Investigating the effects of the new tax rates were three special legislative councils."
But this seems stilted to my AmE ear.
Hope this helps!
Peace,
Tor

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, Are there any rules as to when it is grammatically correct to start a normal sentence (not a question ... to this email is ... Would it also be correct to say: Investigated (here) were the effects of ... Peter[/nq]
Buggered if I know.

Usenet · Answer

"unidiomatic," no?
[nq:1]The past participle, which in regular English verbs has the same form as the past tense, is common at the beginning of delcarative[/nq]
"declarative"
[nq:1]sentences. It is used to modify the subject. "Encouraged by his test scores, John appliled to Harvard for admission." "Spoken in[/nq]
"applied"
Ordinarily, I would have let those two last mistakes slide, but given the apparent error of substituting "idiomatic" for "unidiomatic," you seem to have made an unusually large number of mistakes in a relatively short space.

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi, Are there any rules as to when it is grammatically correct to start a normal sentence (not a question ... Attached to this email is ... Would it also be correct to say: Investigated (here) were the effects of ...[/nq]
As Don said it probably has something to do with familiarity. The first example sounds so familiar that I just took it for granted to be correct. Then, I started wondering if this word order could be transferred to other declarative sentences. Another case when it is acceptable to start with a verb (or to be precise an auxiliary) is when the "if" is omitted in if-clauses, e.g. "Had I known that ...", "Could I ...", "Should I ...". But that is a different matter.

Also, some people perceive the second example to be OK, whereas others do not. It definitely sounds stilted but as Robert said it frequently shows up in scientific papers where the first person is banned and you have to either use the passive or the pluralis majestatis. In my case, I would have like to use the second sentence in a scientific talk. Since a talk is not a paper I think I will better not use it, a talk that sounds very stilted and artificial is not a good thing.

Or I will wait another 150 years until it becomes acceptable usage. ;-)
Peter

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Some verb forms go naturally at the beginning of a ... you wind up with something clumsy if not downright idiomatic.[/nq]
[nq:1]"unidiomatic," no?[/nq]
Yes. No excuses, just an error.

Three for three, Ray. I gotta lay off the sauce.
Thanks for letting me down gently.
But where's YOUR mistake. Violating Skitt's Law, eh?

Liebs

Usenet · Answer

Robert Lieblich schrieb:
[nq:2]Ordinarily, I would have let those two last mistakes slide, ... unusually large number of mistakes in a relatively short space.[/nq]
[nq:1]But where's YOUR mistake. Violating Skitt's Law, eh?[/nq]
Why is Raymond putting the comma inside the quotation marks in >>"unidiomatic"<Cheers
Michael

It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas. Ronald Reagan, October 10, 1965

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Robert Lieblich schrieb:[/nq]
[nq:2]But where's YOUR mistake. Violating Skitt's Law, eh?[/nq]
[nq:1]Why is Raymond putting the comma inside the quotation marks in >>"unidiomatic"<Nice try, Michael, but Ray's an American, and his usage is standard on this side of the pond. Why, even *I* do it.

Liebs

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Robert Lieblich schrieb:
[nq:2]Robert Lieblich schrieb: Why is Raymond putting the comma inside the quotation marks in >>"unidiomatic"<[nq:1]Nice try, Michael, but Ray's an American, and his usage is standard on this side of the pond. Why, even *I* do it.[/nq]
It may be correct, but it certainly looks ugly to me; it is not so bad with longer phrases.
Cheers
Michael

It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas. Ronald Reagan, October 10, 1965

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