Inversion in english and the way to solve the related troubles

In my opinion,inversion is one of the most interesting and challenging grammatical points.Normally, when using inversion structures, we put an auxiliary before thesubject and negative wo

SỞ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO THANH HOÁ

TRƯỜNG THPT HÀM RỒNG

SÁNG KIẾN KINH NGHIỆM

INVERSION IN ENGLISH AND THE WAY TO SOLVE

THE RELATED TROUBLES

Người thực hiện: Trần Thị Linh Chức vụ: Giáo viên

SKKN thuộc lĩnh mực (môn): Tiếng Anh

THANH HOÁ NĂM 2018

THE TABLE OF CONTENT

I INTRODUCTION

II MAIN CONTENT

III The method to solve the matter 3

IV CONSOLIDATION EXERCISE 10

I THE INTRODUCTION

I.1 The reasons for choosing this theme.

English has always become an effective media of communication in theworld In Vietnam, it has gradually played an important role in the process ofrecruitment and enrolling The importance of English is once again stated whenthe Ministry of Education and Training issues a new policy in which Literature,Mathematics and English are compulsory subjects in the national examinationfor high school students Besides communicating well in English, students alsohave to master English grammar so as to perform perfectly in their exams.Moreover, English is a requisite criteria when applying for a job Everyoccupation requires a certain level of English Perhaps, that’s why the Englishcenters which train learners of different levels are mushrooming One of the bestways of teaching English is dividing it into small aspects or subjects So we canexplain systematically and learners find it easy to understand In my opinion,inversion is one of the most interesting and challenging grammatical points.Normally, when using inversion structures, we put an auxiliary before thesubject and negative words is one of clear clues for students to recognize thisform However, some inversions are different and we do need to explainapparently so that students can remember and use it correctly That is the reason

why I choose the topic “Inversion in English and the way to solve the related

troubles” to research in my initiative.

I.2 The purpose of this theme

Having been a teacher of English for eights years, I always try my best tofind out effective ways of teaching Because English is not a very easy subject.Teaching English does not mean to try to explain clearly to student and provideenough the theory of each unit but the teachers have to do the best to make thelesson more interesting and easy to understand So that students can bemotivated to learn it enthusiastically When choosing this theme, I would like tohave an opportunity to exchange teaching method and experience with mycolleagues in order that the effect of teaching English will be better and better.Simultaneously, I want to provide students with useful strategies to master theusage of these forms of inversion, making them more confident before eachexam And the most important is that I would rather guide my students to usethese forms precisely and get the best score in coming examinations Also, Ipersuade my students that, English is also a very intriguing language, the more

we learn it , the wider our mind becomes And discovering new things is always

a challenging and exiting task for English enthusiasts

I.3 The researched subjects

Generally speaking, teaching English is a rather arduous task in ourcountry, especially in the remote and mountainous areas where students hardlyhave interests in English Even, their parents never pay attention to children’sstudy Foreign language is something which is luxurious for them A few years

ago when students had to attend two exams after they had finished high schooleducation, the test of English in the GCSE was not very difficult But now, whenthe new decision has been issued, graduation exam and the entrance exam aremerged, the knowledge in each test becomes wider, deeper and more difficult.

We, teachers of English can’t apply the old teaching method to guide studentsnowadays Thus, when doing the research, I did a survey on students at class 12C1, 12C2, 12C3,12C4 in Ham Rong high school to categorize students into twolevels The level A consists of the students of immediate level who only attendthe GCSE and the level B is for students of advanced standard that intend to takepart in the entrance exam into universities and even exams for gifted students inthe region

II THE CONTENT

II.1 The theorical foundation of this theme

Inversion is one of the indispensable points in English Grammar We cansee this in almost English text People use the form of inversion when they want

to emphasis something Inversion means putting the verb or the auxiliary beforethe subject It is a literary technique in which the normal order of words isreversed, generally for emphasis or special effect It makes a sentence soundstriking or unusual Nowadays, the theories about this field are available,students can search it everywhere However, I myself want to provide mystudents with systematically proper knowledge about this point And I want toshare my own experience with them so that they can understand, remember and

do the related tasks precisely

II.2 The current situation of the issue

Nowadays, it’s essential to have a good command of English and fluentlycommunicate with English speakers in over the world Being able to speakEnglish becomes the first and foremost criteria of all occupations and jobsespecially in foreign companies Moreover, the Vietnamese government has set

a new requirement which force Vietnamese officers, teachers, doctors…all musthave a certain level of English so that they can understand books, materials andinstructions in English Therefore, people especially young ones need to masterEnglish Grammar generally, which helps them meet the requirements easily

So, teachers need to provide students the most effective ways to learn English,communicate in English and pass any English examinations Materials aboutEnglish Grammar are available for students nowadays but which is suitable foreach one and how to apply in real life? It will be much more challenging forlearners coming from mountainous areas like Quan Son high school students.For these such learners, simplified methods are really essential Because it willnot only encourage them to learn English but also give them excitement whenlearning a new language which is far different from their mother tongue.Because of contemporary situation, I always try to find out the best mode to help

my students overcome their difficulty and contribute to decreasing the existingtroubles With my limited experience I presume to give some solutions to guide

students distinguish different forms of inversion, and arrange the parts of speech

in correct position in the sentence I hope that I can share meaningfulinformation with the teachers of English to teach this subject effectively

III The methods to solve the matter

First of all I want to give the definition of inversion in English Inversion

is the reversal of the normal word order in a sentence or phrase There are twotypes of inversion:

Subject-verb inversion, where the subject and the main verb switch

positions and the word order becomes verb + subject:

Example: On the top of the hill stood an old oak tree.

Subject-auxiliary inversion, where the subject and the auxiliary switch positions and the word order becomes auxiliary + subject (+ verb):

Example:

Hardly had I arrived home when my phone rang.

When does the bus leave?

You're hungry, aren't you?

There are at least 18 types of inversions in English, I will divide them into small groups I also explain clearly the usage of each case and provide some applied exercise for them to practice

III.1 Inversion with negative introduction

It means that almost sentences will start with a negative form of word or phrases This form is very common and used with all verbs in English We need

to learn the various types of words and phrases that require this type of inversion

We need to notice that sometimes the inversion occurs right after the negative form and sometimes it occurs in the next subject and verb

iii.1.1 Inversion with “not and no”

No + N

Not any + N

Not for a moment + Aux + S + V

Not till I got

Not until

Example: No money shall I lend you from now on.

(= Not any money shall I lend you from now on.)

iii.1.2 Inversion with negative adverbs

In formal styles, when we use an adverb with negative meaning such as never, rarely, seldom, little, hardly ever,… in front position for emphasis, we invert the subject and auxiliary or modal verb

Never/ Rarely/ Seldom /Little/ Hardly ever + Aux + S + V

Examples:

1 Never in Mid-summer does it snow

2 Hardly ever does he speak in the public

iii.1.3 Inversion with only

Only once

Only later

Only in this way

Only in that way

Only then

Only after + N

Only by V(ing)/ N + Aux + S + V

Only when + clause

Only with + N

Only if+ clause

Only in adv of time/ place

Examples:

1 Only once did I meet her.

2 Only after all guests had gone home could we relax.

3 Only when I understand her did I like her.

4 Only by practicing English every day can you speak it fluently.

iii.1.4 Inversion with phrases including No

Example: 1 For no reason shall you play truant.

2 The money is not to be paid under any circumstances.

(= Under no circumstances is the money to be paid.)

3 On no condition shall we accept their proposal.

III.2 INVERSION WITH AN ADVERBIAL INTRODUCTION

This form of inversion is optional and less common It is used with verbs, linking verbs and verbs that show direction or movement, like come, go, run etc

be-In this case we use the main verb before the subject, not the auxiliary

Example:

1 Under the tree is sitting a man

2 On the table lies a cat

3 In front of the museum is a statue

4 First came the ambulance, then came the police

5 Under the tree was lying one of the biggest men I had ever seen

6 Directly in front of them stood a great castle

7 On the grass sat an enormous frog

8 Along the road came a strange procession

III.3 INVERSION WITH AN “ED” INTRODUCTION

This form is obligatory and very common It is used with be-verbs and sometimes with linking verbs

Examples:

1 Found in San Francisco is Lombard Street, the so-called crookedest street in the world

2 Lost among the old tables and chairs was the priceless Victorian desk

3 Located between San Francisco and Marin County is the Golden Gate Bridge

III.4 INVERSION WITH COMPARISON

iii.4.1 Inversion related to comparative form

This form is optional and common It is used with all verb We normally have inversion here if we are comparing subjects of verb not objects

Example:

1 Cheetah run faster than do antelopes

2 You speak Chinese better than does she

iii.4.2 Inversion with a comparative introduction

This form is obligatory and rather common in English test It is mainly used with be-verbs The comparative is the complement of the be-verb not the subject

Example:

1 Bigger than an apatosaurus is the blue whale

2 More important than your personal statement is our GPA

3 No less impressive than the invention of the laser was the development of the wheel.

iii.4.3 Inversion with double comparative

This form of inversion is used with all verbs It is an optional one and it isused with all verbs

Example:

1 The closer an object is to another object, the greater is the gravity between thetwo objects

iii.4.4 Inversion with as

This form is also an obligatory form of inversion It can be used with all verbs In this case we used as for comparisons As is one of the trickiest words

in English because it has many different meanings

Example:

1 Megumi is form Japan, as is Sato

2 if thrown into the water, camels can swim, as can cats

iii.4.5 Inversion with so/neither

This form is used with be-verb and auxiliary not the main verb It’s

obligatory and very common in English

Example:

1 I came late and so did he

2 she doesn’t like football and neither does she

3 Neither do most people I know

III.5 INVERSION WITH NO SOONER

No sooner + had + S + V(PII) than + S + V(ed) + O

This is an obligatory form of inversion and rather common in English test

It is used to express two actions happening in the order of time An action

happens before another action We can used Hardly/ Barely/ Scarely…… When before instead

Example:

No sooner had I arrived home than the telephone rang

Hardly had she put up her umbrella before the rain became down in

torrents

III.6 INVERSION WITH Not only…… but……also…

Not only + aux + S + V but also + S + V + O

Example:

1 Not only is he good at English but he also draws very well

2 Not only does he sing well but he also plays musical instruments perfectly

III.7 INVERSION WITH SO/ SUCH

* So + Adj/ Adv + Aux + S + V + that-clause (noun clause)

*Such + be + N + that - clause

Example:

Such is the life!

III.8 INVERSION WITH NO WHERE

No where + Aux (Trợ động từ) + S + V

This structure is used in the same way with inversions with negative wordsaid before

Example:

1 No where in the Vietnam is the scenery as beautiful as that in my country

2 No where do I feel as comfortable as I do at home

3 No where can you buy the goods as good as those in my country

III.9 INVERSION WITH CONDITIONAL SENTENCES

iii.9.1.Conditional sentence type 1:

If-clause = Should +S + V(-to)…

Example:

1 Should she come late, she will miss the train

2 Should he lend me some money, I will buy that house

iii.9.2.Conditional sentence type 2:

If-clause = Were S + V(+to)/ + O, S…

Example 1: If I were you, I would work harder = Were I you, I……

Example 2: If I knew her, I would invite her to the party = Were I to know

her,

Note: if the verb in if clause is “were”, we only inverse “were” before the

subject without V(+to) after the subject

Example: if it were sunny now, I would go swimming now

-> Were it sunny now, I would go swimming now

iii.9.3.Conditional sentence type 3 :

If-clause = Had + S + V 3

Example: If my parents had encouraged me, I would have passed exam.

=> Had my parents encouraged me, I………

iii.9.4 Special conditional sentence

* If it hadn’t been for + N.P, S + would have + V(PII) + O

Had it not been for + N.P , S + would have + V(PII) + O

Example: if it hadn’t been for your help, we wouldn’t have finished the plan

=>Had it not been for your help, we wouldn’t have finished the plan

When using the inversion of the conditional sentences “not” mustn’t precede the subject

Example: If he hadn’t come, he would have been fired

Had he not come, he would have been fired

* If + S + were + to have + V(PII) + O, S + would have + V(PII) + O

-> Were + S + to have + V(PII) + O, S + would have + V(PII) + O III.10 INVERSION WITH AN “ING” FORM INTRODUCTION

This form is also an obligatory kind of inversion It is usually used with be-verbs It is not very common and uses “ing” introduction as the complement

of the be-verb

Examples:

1 Burning out of control was the forest located in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain

2 Coming in last in the race was Joe “Elephant legs” Blow

3 Not helping the situation was little Susie, who was throwing newspaper on the spreading fire

III.11 INVERSION AFTER EXCLAMATIONS WITH “HERE” AND

1 We do not say: Here does the winner come

2 There goes all our money!

3 There comes a time in every person’s life when she realizes that she is

responsible for her happiness, not the others

4 Scientists hypothesize that there exists a certain type of particle that can travelfaster than the speed of light

III.12 INVERSION WITH MUCH/MANY