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"In the beginning was the word. But by the time the second word was added to it, there was trouble. For with it came syntax . . . ." (John Simon, Paradigms Lost)
Syntax, says the Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2nd ed., 2004), is "the order of words in which they convey meaning collectively by their connection and relation." Or, more simply put, word order in a sentence.
But is syntax truly order . . . or disorder? At the root of the "trouble" that John Simon warns of is the fact that English syntax is an impressively mobile thing. Ask some poor soul who’s trying to learn the language. There’s a standard word order, yes, but then come the variations, and there are a lot of them.
When you were young, if you were lucky (though it probably seemed less than lucky at the time), you had standard English syntax drilled into you. For many, "subject, verb, object" is a childhood mantra right up there with "two plus two is four," "rock, paper, scissors" and "eat your vegetables." Standard syntax looks like this:
This word order is like an old sweater: familiar, comfortable, easy to slip into when there’s no reason to get fancy. Standard syntax is also practical: the more complex the sentence’s content, the better off you are sticking to the dependable word order.
Yet there are other wardrobe options for your sentences. Knowing about the various patterns out there will make you more versatile with language, able to tailor your style to different content and readers and to produce prose that’s fresh, crisp and attention-getting.
Inversion is the technique of placing the usual elements of a sentence (subject, verb, object) in reverse, or partially reverse, order. The result is a shift in emphasis:
This inverted sentence emphasizes the writer’s heart in a way the original doesn’t—so much so that we almost expect the heart to be contrasted with something else:
Inverting a sentence is a great way to draw readers into something intriguing or unexpected:
Inversion is one of the simplest ways to vary syntax, but also one of the most dramatic. It’s best reserved for material that can handle some extra flair: literary, creative, dramatic or promotional documents, or material that will be read for entertainment as much as for content.
Passive voice is a little like inversion. The object of the sentence (the receiver of the action), which usually ends a sentence, begins it instead. The subject (the doer of the action) falls to the end or disappears entirely:
Passive voice is more an inversion of meaning than an inversion of syntax. That’s because the grammatical subject of the sentence (heart) is still at the beginning of the sentence and is still followed by the verb. In other words, standard subject + verb order prevails. Yet the emphasis and feel of the sentence are different because the receiver of the action is parked up front.
Long the pariah of syntax, passive voice can in fact hold its own, and sometimes even shine, in the right situation. Passive voice can’t be beat when you want to emphasize the receiver of the action rather than the doer, or when the doer is unknown or unspecified:
A subject and its verb are usually inseparable, but putting a little distance between them now and again adds spark to their connection. Inserting details between the subject and its verb, as a kind of interruption, emphasizes the subject and builds anticipation as the reader awaits the verb:
A word of caution: separation is best for shortish sentences and content that’s easy to understand. If your sentence is long or the material complex, keep the subject and verb together so that the main idea emerges quickly:
Separating a subject from its verb, as we’ve seen, tends to highlight the subject by setting it apart. Isolating any word or phrase, not just the subject, by setting it apart from the rest of the sentence is a syntactic technique that grabs readers’ attention. Isolation is most common, and usually most effective, at the beginning or end of a sentence:
Another way to create emphasis, not to mention rhythm, is to leave out a word or phrase that’s necessary to the grammar of a sentence but not its sense. Ellipsis, as this technique is known, often involves omitting a verb:
To which charge the other party in the doomed relationship might respond:
Which might lead to sentences about broken crockery or slapped faces . . . but that’s another article. For a reading that’s more to the point, see More Secrets of Syntax.
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