The word order in the English sentence (general remarks, inverted order of words).

As English words almost don't have any inflexions and their relation to each other is shown by their place in the sentence, word order in English is fixed. So due to the absence of case distinctions word order is practically the only means of distinguishing between the subject and the direct object.

Direct word order: 1. The Subject; 2. The Predicate; 3. Objects; 4. Adverbial modifiers.

Inverted word order (inversion) is the order of words in which the subject is placed after the predicate. Type of sentences that require the inverted order of words: 1) Interrogative sentences have only partial inversion as only part of the predicate (the auxiliary or modal verb) is placed before the subject (When did you see it?), the whole predicate is placed before the subject when it's expressed by the verbs "to be, to have" (Have you any complains?); 2) Sentences introduced by "there" (There is nothing strange about that); 3) Compound sentences, their second part beginning with "so, neither" (I am going home, so are you); 4) Simple exclamatory sentences expressing wish (Be it so!).

Inversion also acquires a stylistic function. It occurs when: 1) An adverbial modifier opens the sentence a) and the subject often has a lengthy modifier (In an armchair, a black shiny leather armchair, was sitting a man), b) and it carries a negative meaning (So little did we know then), c) and it expressed by the adverbs "so, thus, now, then, etc." (no inversion if the subject is a pronoun) (Thus ends my prophecy), d) AM of manner expressed by adverbs (Peacefully and silently did we sleep that night), e) preceded by "so" (So frankly did he speak to us); 2) The emphatic particle "only", the adverbs "hardly, scarcely (with the conjunction "when")", the adverb "no sooner (with "than")" or the conjunction "nor" opens the sentence. If there is inversion the auxiliary "do" must be used if the predicate doesn't contain an auxiliary or a modal verb (Only once did I meet him); 3) The word "here" implying some demonstrative force (Here comes the bus); 4) Postpositions denoting direction like "in, out, down, away, up, etc." (with nouns only) (Down goes the player!); 5) An object or an adverbial modifier expressed by a word-group with "not a, many a" (Many a time did he see it); 6) A predicative expressed by an adjective or by a noun modified by an adjective or by the pronoun "such" (Such is life); 7) In conditional clauses introduced without any conjunction when the predicate is expressed by "was, were, had, could, should" (I'll be here, should any emergency arise).

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