Inversion is a sentence pattern that purposively disrupts the usual declarative form to achieve emphasis and better sentence transitions. It puts a prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, adjectival phrase, or participial phrase at the beginning of the sentence—ahead of its subject—then puts an intransitive verb after it, as in this construction: “In no other way could the Filipino’s voting behavior be understood.”
IMAGE CREDIT: ACCURATECUPSISNECESSARY.BLOGSPOT.COMIN EXPOSITION, AN INVERTED SENTENCE CAN ENSURE SMOOTHER, CLEARER
TRANSITION AND CONTINUITY FROM ONE SENTENCE TO THE NEXT
As a continuity device in exposition, inversion works to ensure a smoother, clearer transition from one sentence to the next. Consider the following passage where all the three component sentences are simple declaratives:
“We are not lacking in political talents with the requisite education, expertise, and vision to propel our country to greatness. Our mindset, however, is so warped by the broadcast entertainment media that we put a higher level of trust on popular entertainers than on legitimate, level-headed leaders. The instant gratification of our imaginary desires by celluloid or video heroes looms larger in our minds than real, long-term solutions to our problems by truly competent aspirants to public office.”
In the inversion-free passage above, the transition between the first sentence and the second is adequately clear, but that between the second sentence and the third gets fuzzy in a maze of seemingly uncorrelated words. The grammar is beyond reproach, but the links between the ensuing ideas are not clearly established in transition.
Inverted sentences can usually do much better than simple declaratives in establishing such transitional links. Take a close look at this reconstruction of that passage where the second and third sentences take the inverted form:
“We are not lacking in political talents with the requisite education, expertise, and vision to propel our country to greatness. But so warped by the broadcast entertainment media is our mindset that we put a higher level of trust on popular entertainers than on legitimate, level-headed leaders. Looming larger in our minds is the instant gratification of our imaginary desires by celluloid or video heroes than real, long-term solutions to our national problems by truly competent aspirants to public office.”
We can see inversion at work when the second sentence leads off with the adjectival phrase “but so warped by the broadcast entertainment media is our mindset” instead of the normal declarative “our mindset is so warped by the broadcast entertainment media.” Inversion is likewise at work in the third sentence, which leads off with the participial phrase “looming larger in our minds is the instant gratification of our imaginary desires” instead of the normal declarative “the instant gratification of our imaginary desires by celluloid or video heroes looms larger in our minds.”
The twin inversions build up a clearer, much more understandable transition of ideas in the passage—better than when all three sentences are simple declaratives.
But inversion has its limits. It works badly when used to make abrupt transitions to ideas not specifically taken up in preceding sentences. See how inversion falters in doing its job in this passage:
“You are talented and you work hard to finish a college education. In the art of management and governance you hone yourself assiduously. From out of nowhere comes a popular upstart, unschooled in the academic disciplines and in governance, telling you that he is much more fit for public office than you are.”
Only when the antecedent ideas are clearly established beforehand, in fact, does inversion function well, as in the following reconstruction:
“You are talented, work hard to finish a college education, and hone yourself assiduously in the art of management and governance. Then all of a sudden and from out of nowhere comes a popular upstart, unschooled in both the academic disciplines and in governance, telling you that he is much more fit for public office than you are.”
(Next:
Pragmatic uses of inversion in writing) September 4, 2018
This essay, 1107th of the series, appeared in the column “English Plain and Simple” by Jose A. Carillo in the Campus Press section of the August 30, 2018 issue (print edition only) of The Manila Times
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