#IELTS Writing Task 1: simple yet less common grammar

As you know, the marathon record was officially broken yesterday, when Sabastian Sawe shattered the two-hour barrier in London.

As I was reading the articles, I was noticing one grammar pattern that I teach and that students are sometimes surprised by. Look:

1️⃣ Not long behind him was Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who was 11 seconds back in his debut marathon.

2️⃣ On Sawe’s heels for much of the race was Yomif Kejelcha of Ethiopia, who faded during the marathon’s final stretch to take second place.

3️⃣ In second place, 12 seconds back, was Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, while her compatriot Joyciline Jepkosgei finished third.

What might be surprising is the inverted word order. Typically, in English, you would say, "Hellen Obiri was in second place," not "In second place was Hellen Obiri.

This inverted word order is common with prepositional phrases in the frontal position. You can use it for IELTS tasks with figures (ranking) and maps (location):

- In second place was ...

- Not far behind ... was ...

- Next to the office is a ...

- In front of the building is a ...

To practice, write an IELTS-like sentence about a real or imaginary task in the comments.

Sources: 1) The Irish Times; 2) CNN.