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Is it possible to say in English, "With us this morning is Peter"?

What is the Subject in the quoted part of the sentence?

F.E.
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Kosta
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    Peter is the subject, and the predicate phrase with us this morning has been inverted with it, leaving the highly artificial but grammatical structure you see. As Gary's Student points out, it's restricted to public speaking events. – John Lawler May 05 '14 at 18:08
  • ... In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit seems an exception. – Edwin Ashworth May 05 '14 at 18:25
  • @EdwinAshworth Tolkien was written for shouting from the hilltop. In a windstorm. And clashing swords against shields. – Mitch May 05 '14 at 18:50
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    We writers use this kind of inversion often (subject-dependent inversion). It has its advantages. – F.E. May 05 '14 at 19:19
  • Tolkien's second 'sentence' here is also unconventional; the part before the colon has no verb. Some style gurus would have slated him. – Edwin Ashworth May 05 '14 at 19:53
  • @Mitch I believe the quote you’re struggling after is “Here are beauties which pierce like swords or burn like cold iron; here is a book that will break your heart.” – tchrist May 05 '14 at 20:04
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    When you start a sentence with an adverbial phrase, it is not uncommon to have various sorts of subject–verb inversion, especially in literary registers. – tchrist May 05 '14 at 20:14
  • @tchrist That thread is related (with interesting info), but I don't think it has the explanations that would help explain the OP's example to the OP. – F.E. May 05 '14 at 20:20
  • @tchrist: that must be a very heavy book. – Mitch May 05 '14 at 21:02

4 Answers4

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This syntax is used by radio and television interviewers in the US. I don't know if it is common in other parts of the world.

Gary's Student
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John Lawler is correct. With us this morning modifies Peter. If you reverse the order, it sounds more natural:

"Peter is with us this morning."

Interesting note by Gary's that it's mainly used by interviewers in the US. :)

thankyour
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QUESTION #A: Is it possible to say in English, "With us this morning is Peter"?

QUESTION #B: What is the Subject in the quoted part of the sentence?

Let's first look at your second question:

QUESTION #B: What is the Subject in the quoted part of the sentence?

One diagnostic tool that often helps in identifying the grammatical subject of a clause is subject-auxiliary inversion. This basically means converting your declarative clause into an interrogative clause (into a, er, "question"). For your example:

  • 1.) "[With us this morning] is [Peter]." - - [original]

  • 2.) (*) "Is with us this morning Peter?" - - [failed attempt at "sub-aux inversion"]

  • 3.) "Is Peter with us this morning?" - - [sub-aux inversion]

Notice that #2 is ungrammatical; and that #3 is fine and grammatical, and so, the subject is "Peter" in both #3 and in #1 (the OP's original).

Now that we know what the subject is, let's now look at your first question:

QUESTION #A: Is it possible to say in English, "With us this morning is Peter"?

Yes, that example is a fine sentence, and it is grammatical. It involves subject-dependent inversion.

Subject-dependent inversion is an information packaging construction that is often used by writers. One of the general reasons why a writer will do this is when they are beginning a scene, and they will want to do some very minimal scene setting, where they let the reader know a little of what is in the scene's environment (like, are we outside? or in a building? or is it raining? etc.). Besides starting scenes out this way, many times stories and fables begin this way too ("In the woods lived an old lady . . .").

Another reason to use this type of construction is to delay the new info (that the person being introduced is the person "Peter") until the end of the sentence. That is often the preferred way to do things: to have older info at the beginning of a sentence and the newer info at the end.

From seeing your example, it seems to me that the addressee/listener basically already knows that right now is the morning, and that the hosts/speaker will probably be introducing a guest on their show--this is all old info or understood info. But the info of who the guest actually is--in this case, the guest "Peter"--is new info, and we tend to prefer to put that new info (important info) at the end. And that is what the speaker did in that sentence of yours: "With us this morning is Peter."

Community
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F.E.
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Peter is the subject in the above sentence, since he is the one performing the action "being with us."

It's true that this is used especially by broadcasters, since the audience may only be tuning in to what they are saying mid-sentence, meaning that saying "Peter is with us this morning," can sound like ".... is with us this morning."

This is a perfectly acceptable use of English and adds emphasis to the word that has been put at the end.

Example: The reason why I'm leaving is Bradley. (As opposed to, Bradley is the reason I'm leaving.)

Example 2: The big draw around here is our summer sale. (As opposed to, the Summer sale is our big draw around here.)

  • This format can also be used when the next sentence discusses the subject.

For example, "With us this morning is Peter. Peter is a journalist from Wales."

Code Whisperer
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