Invert The Subject And Verb With Place Expressions

After ideas expressing place, the subject and the verb sometimes invert in English. This can happen with single words expressing place, such as here, there, or nowhere.

Here is the book that you lent me.
There are the keys that I thought I lost.
Nowhere have I seen such beautiful weather.

In the first example, the place word here causes the subject book to come after the verb is. In the second example, the place word there causes the subject keys to come after the verb are. In the last example, the place word nowhere causes the subject I to come after the verb have.

The subject and verb can also be inverted after prepositional phrases expressing place.

In the closet are the clothes that you want.
Around the corner is Sam’s house.
Beyond the mountains lies the town where you will live.

In the first example, the prepositional phrase of place in the closet causes the subject clothes to come after the verb are. In the second example, the prepositional phrase of place around the corner causes the subject house to come after the verb is. In the last example, the prepositional phrase of place beyond the mountains causes the subject town to come after the verb lies.

It is important (and a bit difficult) to understand that the subject and verb will invert after place expressions at the beginning of a sentence only when the place expression is necessary to complete the sentence. Study the following examples:

In the forest are many exotic birds.
In the forest I walked for many hours.

In the first example, the subjects birds and verb are are inverted because the place expression in the forest is needed to complete the idea many exotic birds are.… In the second example, the subject I and the verb walked are not inverted because the idea I walked for many hours is complete without the place expression in the forest;
the place expression is therefore not needed to complete the sentence.

The following example shows how this sentence pattern could be tested in structure questions on the TOEFL test:

Example from the Paper and Computer TOEFL® Tests
On the second level of the parking lot _____.
(A) is empty
(B) are empty
(C) some empty stalls
(D) are some empty stalls

In this example, the place expression on the second level of the parking lot, which contains several prepositional phrases (on the second level and of the parking lot), is then followed by the subject and a verb. In answers (A) and (B), there is a verb only, and the two answers that contain both a subject and a verb are (C) and (D). The subject and verb in this sentence must be inverted because the place expression is necessary to complete the idea some empty stalls are.…The best answer is therefore (D).