French Grammar in Context

Word order 205

f Inversion may occur with verbs such as apparaître, rester and suivre when the focus/emphasis
is on the subject rather than the verb, and where the verb would usually be prefixed in English
with a neutral ‘there’:
e.g. Soudain est apparue une fée Suddenly there appeared...
Voilà deux tâches bien faites; reste une troisième... there remains...
Suivit une scène incroyable There followed...

g Optional stylistic inversion of a noun subject and verb occurs in a variety of subordinate
clauses:

• after conjunctions:
  e.g. Tant que durera la crise, je resterai avec elle


• in the second half of comparative sentences:
  e.g. Il est plus intelligent que ne le pensent ses professeurs


• in concessive clauses introduced by quel(le)(s) que... :
  e.g. Quelles que soient vos raisons, je n’approuve pas votre décision

h Inversion of a noun subject and verb is not always possible in subordinate clauses. The
following restrictions should be observed.

• Do not invert if inversion would result in the separation of the verb from its direct object.
  Contrast the following relative clauses, the first where inversion is possible and the second
  where it is not.
  Voilà le magasin où travaille le père de mon amie
  Voilà le magasin où mon amie a acheté son portable


• Do not invert if inversion would result in the separation of the verb from an adverbial
  complement:
  e.g. Tant que ses cousins avaient vécu en Afrique, elle leur avait écrit tous les mois


• Do not invert after C’est... que if the verb has a complement:
  e.g. C’est en 1997 que Tony Blair est devenu premier ministre

See for further information: Coffman Crocker, pp. 220–1
Ferrar, pp. 99, 116–17, 166, 179, 252
Hawkins and Towell, pp. 134–5, 421
Judge and Healey, pp. 410–12
L’Huillier, pp. 24–5, 42–3, 180, 462
Price, pp. 469–73
Turk and Vandaele, p. 291

See also: Chapter 8 on negation of verbs and word order
Chapter 9 on interrogatives and inversion
Chapter 10 on object pronouns and word order
Chapter 16 on position of adjectives
Chapter 17 on adverbs and word order
Chapter 19 on position of object pronouns with the imperative
Chapter 31 on highlighting and emphasis