Inversion

"Inversion" as one of the translation techniques, means the necessary or even inevitable change of word-order in a sentence according to the usage of the language to be translated into. This“change of word-order”is necessary, because, first of all, each language has its own "natural word-order" and its own peculiarities in word-order；secondly, "inversion", as a stylistic device, is often used for emphasis. 

1. Subordinate clauses be placed before principal clauses

Adverbial clauses of "condition"，"concession" or "cause or reason"，when translated into Chinese should normally be placed before the principal clause, though often placed after the principal clause in English. e. g,

"But you would soon appreciate the might of this tiny particle, if, all of a sudden there were no more electricity!"——“不过，要是突然出乎意料地都没有了电的话，你就会立即意识到这些微粒的威力有多么大了！”

"On the other hand, it would be very difficult to give an adequate account of the modern theory of light without some reference to these general considerations." ——“另一方面，要是不在一定程度上涉及到这些总体的考虑，也很难充分地阐明现代光学理论。”

2.“M—P—T”converted into“T一P—M”

The natural order of a series of adverbials in English is: M—P—T usually the adverbial of manner immediately follows the main verb, next comes the adverbial of place and finally comes the adverbial of time. Normally we in China tend to place the adverbial of time first, to be followed by that of place and, finally，that of manner. e.g.

"Professor Tung is working with two of his new assistants in his laboratory at the moment.”一一 “童教授现在正在实验室和他的两个新助手一道工作。”（“M —P — T”—“T —P — M”）

3. There are cases in which an“adverbial” (or an adj, phrase ) m English means in effect as much as an "adverbial clause" (or non-restrictive clause) does. Should such an occasion arise, such an "adverbial" (or adj. phrase) is usually placed at the end of the sentence and property amplified in the Chinese version. e.g.

"Wind technology, in particular, is ideally suited to meet this need for electricity."一一“风力技术对满足电的这种要求，是特别理想的。”

"Then the mirror of the sea will look twisted out of shape for a while."一一“于是，海平面这面镜子一时看起来波浪起伏，失去了原来平静如镜的形状。”

4. Cases involving a "that-" clause

In expressing a judgment or conclusion when a "that-" clause which serves as the subject (of a sentence or a clause) is too long and consequently "it" has to be used simultaneously as the "formal subject", inversion is often called for, to conform to the usage in Chinese. e.g.

"lt was always possible that supplies could be stopped by wars or shipping trouble."—-“橡胶供应因战争或航运事故而受阻，这样的事过去常常发生。”（或：过去，橡胶供应常常因战争或航运事故而受阻。）