Main points
*You can sometimes change the focus of a sentence by moving part of the sentence to the front.
*You can also change the focus of a sentence by using an expression such as ‘The fact is’, ‘The thing is’, or ‘The problem is.’
*You can also use impersonal ‘it’ to change the focus of a sentence.
a) In most affirmative clauses, the subject of the verb comes first.
- They went to Australia in 1956.
- I’ve no idea who it was.
However, when you want to emphasize another part of the sentence, you can put that part first instead.
- In 1956 they went to Australia.
- Who it was I’ve no idea.
b) One common way of giving emphasis is by placing and adverbial at the beginning of the sentence.
- At eight o’clock I went down for my breakfast.
- For years I’d had to hide what I was thinking.
Note that after adverbials of place and negative adverbials, you normally put the subject after the verb,
- She rang the bell for Sylvia. In came a girl she had not seen before.
- On no account must they be let in.
After adverbials of place, you can also put the subject before the verb. You must do so, if the subject is a pronoun.
- The door opened and in she came.
- He’d chosen Japan, so off we went to the Japanese Embassy.
c) When you want to say that you do not know something, you can put a reported question at the beginning of the sentence.
- What I’m going to do next I don’t quite know.
- How he managed I can’t imagine.
d) another way of focusing on information is to use a structure which introduces what you want to say by using ‘the’ and a noun, followed by ‘is’. The nouns most commonly used in this way are:
| answer | point | rule | trouble |
| conclusion | problem | solution | truth |
| fact | question | thing |
The second part of the sentence is usually a ‘that’ clause or a ‘wh’ clause, although it can also be a ‘to’ infinitive clause or a noun group.
- The problem is that she can’t cook.
- The thing is, how are we going to get her out?
- The solution is to adopt the policy which will produce the greatest benefits.
- The answer is planning, timing, and, above all, practical experience.
It is also common to use a whole sentence to introduce information in following sentences.
e) You can also focus on information by using impersonal ‘it’, followed by ‘be’, a noun group, and a relative clause. The noun group can be the subject or object of the relative clause.
- It was Ted who broke the news to me.
- It is usually the other vehicle that suffers most.
- It’s money that they want.
- It was me Dookie wanted.
There are many other ways of focusing on information:
- Ted was the one who broke the news to me.
- Money is what we want.
- What we want is money.
f) You can also focus on the information given in the other parts of a clause, or a whole clause, using impersonal ‘it’. In this case, the second part of the sentence is ‘that’ clause.
- It was from Francis that she first heard the news.
- It was meeting Peter that really started me off on this new line of work.
- Perhaps it’s because he’s a misfit that I get along with him.
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Top Tips Abz Ingles: Part A - Part B
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See also:
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