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The place of prepositions§ 118. The usual place of a preposition is between the words the relation of which it denotes. However, in some cases it may be placed at the end of the sentence. These cases are:
1. When the prepositional object (a wordor aclause) is in front position.
This I can dispense with. What he says you can rely on. 2. When the prepositional object is made the subject of a passive construction.
He was much laughed at. The bed has not been slept in.
3. In questions and exclamations, when the object is placed in front position.
Who are you speaking to? What a nice girl she has grown into!
4. In contact attributive clauses in which the object to the predicate belongs to the main clause or is only implied.
It is the very thing I've always dreamed of. It appeared better than we dared to hope for.
Inverted word order § 119. Another common pattern of word order is the inverted one (or inversion). We distinguish full inversion (when the predicate precedes the subject, as in Here comes the lady of the house) and partial inversion (when only part of the predicate precedes the subject, as in Happy may you be!). Some grammarians also distinguish double inversion (when parts of the predicate are placed separately before the subject, as in Hanging on the wall was a picture). § 120. In some cases inversion may be taken as a normal order of words in constructions with special communicative value, and is thus devoid of any special colouring. In other cases inversion is a sort of reordering for stylistic effect or for emphasis. First we enumerate those cases where inversion is a normal word order.
1. Inversion is usedto distinguish between the communicative types of sentences. With this function it is employed in:
a) General questions, polite requests and in tag questions. Is it really true? Won’t you have a cup of tea? You are glad to see me, aren’t you?
b) Pronominal questions, except questions to the subject and its attribute, where direct word order is used.
What are the police after?
c) There-sentences with the introductory non-local there, followed by one of the verbs denoting existence, movement, or change of the situation . Therehas been an accident. Thereis nothing in it. Thereappeared an ugly face over the fence. Thereoccurred a sudden revolution in public taste. Therecomes our chief.
d) Exclamatory sentences expressing wish, despair, indignation, or other strong emotions. Long live the king! Come what may!
e) Exclamatory sentences which are negative in form but positive in meaning. Have I not watched them! (= I have watched them.) Wouldn’t that be fun! (= It would be fun.)
f) Negative imperative sentences.
Don’t you do it. 2. Inversion is used asa grammatical means of subordination in some complex sentences joined without connectors:
a) In conditional clauses. Were you sure of it, you wouldn’t hesitate. Had she known it before, she wouldn’t have made this mistake.
b) In concessive clauses. Proud as he was, he had to consent to our proposal.
c) In the second part of a sentence of proportional agreement (although inversion is not obligatory in this case).
The more he thought of it, the less clear was the matter. 3. Inversion is usedin sentences beginning with adverbs denoting place.This usage is traditional, going back to OE norms. Here is another example. There goes another bus (туда идет еще один автобус, еще автобус идет).
4. Inversion is usedin stage directions, although this use is limited to certain verbs. Enter the King, the Queen. Enter Beatie Bryant, an ample blond.
5. Inversion may be usedin sentences indicating whose words or thoughts are given as direct or indirect speech. These sentences may introduce, interrupt, or follow the words in direct or indirect speech, or may be given in parenthesis.
“That’s him,” said Tom (Tom said). How did he know, thought Jack, miserably.
Direct word order can also be used here. 6. Inversion is usedin statements showing that the remark applies equally to someone or something else.
I am tired. - So am I. He isn’t ready. - Neither is she. Note:
If the sentence is a corroboration of a remark just made, direct word order is used.
You promised to come and see me. - So I did. We may meet him later. - So we may. The emphatic and communicative functions of word order
§ 121. The second function of word order is to make prominent or emphatic that part of the sentence which is more important or informative in the speaker’s opinion. These two functions (to express prominence or information focus, and emphasis) are different in their purpose, but in many cases they go together or overlap, and are difficult to differentiate. Prominence and emphasis are achieved by placing the wordin an unusual position: words normally placed at the beginning of the sentence (such as the subject) are placed towards the end, whereas words usually occupying positions closer to the end of the sentence (such as objects and predicatives) are shifted to the beginning. End position is always emphaticfor the subject. Very often this reordering results in the detachment of the subject.
Must have cost a pretty penny, this dress of yours! Fronting of an object or a predicative is also often accompanied by detachment. Horrible these women are, ugly, dirty. Many and long were the conversations they held through the prison wall. For debt, drink, dancers he had a certain sympathy; but the pearls - no!
If the object is prepositional, the preposition may be put after the verb or verb-group, or else after the whole sentence. This nowadays one hears notof.
However, front position of an object does not always mean that this part is emphasized. In some cases this sort of reordering is employed to get the predicate (or what is left of it) emphasized. Talent Mr. Macowber has, capital Mr. Macowberhas not. Front position is emphatic for adverbials (of time, manner, degree) usually attached to the predicate. It is often accompanied by inversion. Well do I remember the day. Many a time has he given me good advice.
Withwords functioning now as adverbs, now as postpositions, front position reveals their adverbial nature most distinctly, as postpositions are never placed here. With this reordering the emphasis is thrown upon the predicate. Off hewent. Up theyrushed.
Forattributes emphasis may be achieved by putting them after their headword. In this way the modifier becomes the focus and has the principal stress of the word-group.
The day following was to decide our fate.
Note:
In assessing the emphatic effect of a postmodifying attribute we should bear in mind that for certain attributes this position is normal (see § 86).
However, the fixed patterns in English limit the opportunities to shift prominence or emphasis from one part of the sentence to another, especially for main parts. Therefore prominence and emphasis are generally achieved not by reordering, but by using special constructions. One such construction used for emphasizing the subject is the introductory non-local there + verb + noun, followed by an attributive clause. There wasa girl whom he loved. There comesa time when one should make up one’s mind.
Another device for shifting emphasis is the construction with the introductory it, the main information being supplied by the subordinate clause. By means of this construction emphasis may be thrown upon any part of the sentence, except the predicate. Such sentences are called cleft sentences. This can be illustrated by the following:
It wasshe who opened the door. It isnot easy to find a position. It wasto Moscow that she went.
Special emphasis on words functioning as direct or indirect object may be achieved by the use of the passive construction, in which the words to be emphasized are moved either to front position or closer to the end. Compare the sentences:
The teacher gave the children an easy task. The children were given an easy task by the teacher. An easy task was given to the children by the teacher. 
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