Inversion - Uses of French Inversion
In French, the normal order of words is subject (noun or pronoun) + verb: Il doit. Inversion is when the normal word order is inverted to verb + subject and, in the case of a pronoun being inverted, joined by a hyphen: Doit-il. There are a number of different uses of inversion.
| I. | Interrogation - Inversion is commonly used to ask questions. | |||
| Mangeons-nous de la salade ? | Are we eating salad? | |||
| A-t-il un ami à la banque ?* |
Does he have a friend at the bank? |
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| II. | Incidental clauses - Inversion is required when using a short clause to offset speech or thought. | |||
| A. | Direct speech - Verbs like to say, to ask, and to think that set off direct speech. | |||
| « Je vois, dit-il, que c'était une bonne idée ».* | "I see," he says, "that it was a good idea." | |||
| « Avez-vous un stylo ? » a-t-elle demandé. | "Do you have a pen?" she asked. | |||
| B. | Remarks, thoughts - Verbs like to appear and to seem used to set off remarks or thoughts. | |||
| Ils ont, paraît-il, d'autres choses à faire. | They have, it appears, other things to do. | |||
| Anne était, me semble-t-il, assez nerveuse. |
Anne was, it seems to me, rather nervous. |
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| III. | Adverbs and adverbial phrases - When found at the beginning of a clause, inversion varies according to the specific adverb. | |||
| A. | Required inversion - After à peine, aussi, du moins, rarement, toujours (only with être), and vainement | |||
| Toujours est-il qu'elles doivent lire ces articles. | Nevertheless, they need to read these articles./ The fact remains that they need to.../ Be that as it may, they still need to... |
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| C'est cher ; du moins fait-il du bon travail. | It's expensive, (but) at least he does good work. | |||
| B. | Inversion or que - Must use one or the other after combien + adverb, peut-être, and sans doute | |||
| Sans doute avez-vous faim/ Sans doute que vous avez faim. |
Of course you must be hungry. | |||
| Peut-être étudient-ils à la bibliothèque/ Peut-être qu'ils étudient à la bibliothèque. |
Maybe they're studying at the library. | |||
| C. | Optional inversion - After the adverbs ainsi, en vain, and (et) encore | |||
| Ainsi a-t-elle trouvé son chien/ Ainsi elle a trouvé son chien. |
That's how she found her dog. | |||
| En vain ont-ils cherché son portefeuille/ En vain ils ont cherché son portefeuille. |
In vain, they searched for his wallet. | |||
| IV. | Miscellaneous - Inversion is optional in the following structures: | |||
| A. | Relative pronouns - When a noun phrase follows a relative pronoun. | |||
| Voici le livre dont dépendent mes amis Luc et Michel./ Voici le livre dont mes amis Luc et Michel dépendent. |
Here's the book upon which my friends depend. Here's the book that my friends depend on. |
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| Ce qu'ont fait les enfants de Sylvie est terrible./ Ce que les enfants de Sylvie ont fait est terrible. |
What Sylvie's kids did is terrible. | |||
| B. | Comparisons - After the que in a comparison, especially with a noun phrase. | |||
| Il est plus beau que n'avait pensé la sœur de Lise./* Il est plus beau que la sœur de Lise n'avait pensé. |
He is more handsome than Lise's sister had thought. | |||
| C'est moins cher que n'ont dit les étudiants de M. Sibek./ C'est moins cher que les étudiants de M. Sibek n'ont dit. |
It's cheaper than Mr. Sibek's students said. | |||
| C. | Emphasis - Subject and verb may be inverted to emphasize the subject (rare) | |||
| Sonnent les cloches./ Les cloches sonnent. |
The bells are ringing. | |||
| A été indiquée la prononciation des mots difficiles./ La prononciation des mots difficiles a été indiquée. |
The pronunciation of difficult words has been indicated. | |||
| * | Notes | |||
| 1. | Third person singular - If the verb ends in a vowel, t- must be placed between the verb and pronoun for euphony. | |||
| Parle-t-on allemand ici ? | Does anyone speak German here? | |||
| Peut-être a-t-il trouvé mon sac à dos. | Maybe he found my backpack. | |||
| 2. | Incidental clauses and French punctuation | |||
| 3. | Optional inversion - Generally speaking, use inversion for formality, avoid it for familiarity (see I, III B, III C, and IV, above). | |||
| 4. | Ne explétif - The ne used in comparisons (IV B) | |||
| 5. | Pronouns only - Normally only pronouns can be inverted. When the subject is a noun, you must add a pronoun for the inversion.** | |||
| Est-ce possible ? | Ce projet, est-ce possible ? | |||
| À peine est-il arrivé... | À peine mon frère est-il arrivé... | |||
| ** | Exceptions: In the following cases, a noun may be inverted, but the inversion is not joined by a hyphen. | |||
| a. | In direct speech (II A): If the verb is in the present tense, the noun/name and verb can be inverted. | |||
| « Je vois, dit Jacques, que c'était une bonne idée ». | "I see," Jacques says, "that it was a good idea." | |||
| b. | For formality (IV): noun clauses may be inverted to make the sentence more formal. | |||
| 6. | Liaisons are required between inverted subjects and verbs. | |||
| Word Order with Inversion More Word Order |
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