Word order

Question

Is this sentence gramatically correct?
Inorganic chemistry: field of chemistry in which are studied the chemical reactions and properties of all chemical elements and their compounds, with the exception of the hydrocarbons (compounds composed of carbon and hydrogen) and their derivatives.
My questions is: can we alter the subject-verb order here?

Paco2004 · Accepted Answer

Hi Guest!

My try is like this;
Inorganic chemistry is a field of chemistry in which they study the chemical reactions and properties of all chemical elements and compounds except hydrocarbons (compounds composed of carbon and hydrogen) and their derivatives.

But I'm a mere learner of English and so I might have made mistakes. Please wait till some teacher come to correct my mistakes.

paco

Mister Micawber · Answer

The basic problem, Guest, is that it is not a sentence to begin with-- it is set up as a definition. Paco has fixed that problem by creating a proper sentence and making 'Inorganic chemistry' its subject. Paco has also improved it by simplification. The only point I would contest is the 'they'-- a classic nonspecific agent which makes this clause a prime candidate for passive voice, as it was in the original. So I would adjust it to:

'Inorganic chemistry is a field of chemistry in which the chemical reactions and properties of all chemical elements and compounds except hydrocarbons (compounds of carbon and hydrogen) and their derivatives are studied.'

Your question, Guest, was whether your original inversion, 'are studied the chemical reactions, etc' was correct? Yes it is, but it works just as well at the end of the clause in normal order. Because this is a scientific definition, we expect scientists (or scientists-to-be) to be able to read and understand the long dependent clause without difficulty; so it is unnecessary to front the verb. (It is wise, however, as Paco and I have done, to pare down any overly complex structures or redundancies that we can.)

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