Question

Name the figure of speech that involves the inversion of the typical word order of a sentence: [Advanced]

• A. Apostrophe
• B. Anastrophe
• C. Personification
• D. None of the above

Answer 1

The correct option is B Anastrophe

An effective way to make language more emphatic when using English is by inverting a sentence's normal word order.
For example, 'I have never eaten such a flaky croissant.' is a regular sentence, with the word order: subject (I) + verb (have never eaten) + object (such a flaky croissant).
To add emphasis, the auxiliary verb comes before the subject: Never have I eaten such a flaky croissant. ('Never' is an adverb and the main verb is 'eaten')
From the options, 'Anastrophe' names this figure of speech, 'anastrophe' is a Greek word that means 'turning back'. Hence option B is correct.
Option A is incorrect because 'apostrophe' is a punctuation mark (').
Option C is incorrect because personification is a figure of speech that involves giving life-like qualities to inanimate objects. (The wind howls.)
Option D is incorrect as the answer lies in B.