Changing the Word Order

Which of these are correct:

1-Happy I was in my own house.
2-Not happy I was in my own house.
3-Happy was I in my own house.
4-Not happy was I in my own house.

I don’t think they would sound natural in everyday English, but are they grammatically acceptable? Are they archaic?

Dear N:

1 and 3 are used occasionally for emphasis. 3 would be the most natural in everyday English, and you do hear it occasionally. 2 and 4 would be grammatically understandable, but would be very awkward and would probably indicate someone who had trouble expressing himself.

None are archaic. Inversion has always been used in English for emphasis, but it also needs to be clear enough to be understandable.

One thought on “Changing the Word Order”

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