- A wonderful, inspiring lecture was given.
- The weary army slept in the trenches.
But occasionally we find the subject after the verb.
421. By simple inversion.
We will often find this use in poetry or in poetic prose, as for example:
- Never have I heard one word to the contrary.
In this sentence I is the subject of the sentence, have heard is the verb, and never is an adverb modifying the verb phrase, have heard. But in order to place emphasis upon the word never, which is the emphatic word in the sentence, never is placed first, and the verb phrase inverted so that the subject I comes in between the two words which form the verb phrase. The sentence expressed in its usual order would be:
- I have never heard one word to the contrary.
You will note that this statement does not carry the same emphasis upon the word never as the inverted statement.
422. In interrogative sentences, the subject comes after the helping verb or after the interrogative used to introduce the sentence. As for example:
- Have you heard the news?
- When will we hear from you?
- How have the people been managing?
- What will the children do then?
- Will the students come later?
- Can the work be accomplished quickly?
- Must our youth end so quickly?