French Grammar in Context

Word order 203

cElsewhere, the use of inversion is not compulsory, but an optional stylistic feature of careful,

usually written, French. It is possible with noun, but not with pronoun, subjects. Inversion of a

noun subject and verb frequently occurs in subordinate clauses for reasons of balance. It is

particularly common in relative clauses, when the subject is longer (has more syllables) than

the verb:

e.g. Celle aussi du temple de Jérusalem... que décrit Ézéchiel (lines 63–5)

Inversion is all the more likely to occur if the verb is monosyllabic and would sound very

awkward if placed at the end of sentence:

e.g. Nous ne comprenons pas ce que dit l’avocat.

d Inversion of a noun subject and verb for reasons of balance occurs frequently after C’est... que:
e.g. C’est cette vision technicolor qu’offrait le Moyen Âge. (lines 10–11)
C’est d’ailleurs au même siècle qu’apparaissent les premiers livres... (lines 75–6)

e Inversion of a noun subject and verb may occur in written French for reasons of emphasis as
well as balance, where the writer wishes to stress the subject rather than the verb and/or its
complement:
e.g. Aux fondations mythiques de saphir... se substituent des façades aux ornements colorés
de tons vifs et brillants. (lines 65–9)
Au bleu et or des siècles précédents, succède le blanc au XIXe siècle... (lines 90–2)
If the writer had used direct word order (subject, verb, complement),
e.g. Des façades aux ornements de tons vifs et brillants se substituent aux fondations mythiques
de saphir, topaze, jaspe, améthyste, émeraude ou calcédoine des livres sacrés,
the emphasis would have been placed on what was superseded, instead of on what took
its place. With inversion, the word order reflects the temporal order of events; what came
first in time is placed at the beginning of the sentence, followed by what succeeded it.

f For reasons of emphasis, adverbial expressions of time (and also of place) may be placed at the
beginning of a sentence before the subject (see also Chapter 31):
e.g. Car, à l’époque, les façades des cathédrales gothiques... (lines 11–12)
Depuis, la liste des monuments gothiques... (line 25)

g For reasons of emphasis and balance, what is more usually the second element of a negative
expression may precede ne + verb
e.g. Car, à l’époque, les façades des cathédrales gothiques pas plus que les romanes n’étaient
blanches. (lines 11–14)

Other points to note in the text

• Pronominal verbs: s’allonger (line 27); se dressaient (line 44); s’animer (line 59); se substituent
  (lines 67–8) (see Chapter 20)


• Passive: Les cathédrales... ont été peintes et régulièrement repeintes (lines 29–31); elle était
  éclairée (line 57); Ces couleurs seront superposées (lines 79–80); Les teintes... sont consignées
  (lines 83–5) (see Chapter 21)