CHANGING the FOCUS of a SENTENCE

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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, to ADD EMPHASIS…

• In 1956 they went to Australia.• Who it was I have no idea.

Placing an adverbial at the beginning of a sentence ADDS

EMPHASIS• At eight o’clock I went down for my breakfast.• For years I’d had to hide what I was thinking.

NOTE: AFTER Adverbials of PLACE and NEGATIVE

adverbials, the subject normally comes AFTER the VERB.

• In walked 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.

When you want to say that you do not know something, you can put a reported question at the beginning

of a sentence.

• What I’m going to do next I don’t quite know.• How he managed I can’t imagine.

Another way of focusing on info is to use a structure that introduces what you want to

say by using THE & A NOUN, followed by IS.

The MOST COMMON NOUNS used in this way are:

• answer• point• rule• fact• truth• thing

• solution• conclusion• trouble• question• problem

The 2nd part of the sentence is usually a THAT-clause or a WHICH-clause,

although it can also be a TO-infinitive clause or a NOUN GROUP.

• The problem is that they 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.

Using a Whole Sentence to Introduce Info is Also Common.

FOCUS can also be added on info by using impersonal IT followed by BE, a NOUN GROUP, & A 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 need.• It was me they wanted.

Changing the Focus of a Sentence

There are many other ways of focusing on info:

• Ted was the one who broke the news to me.• Money is what we want.• What we want is money.

Changing the Focus of a Sentence

FOCUS can also be given on info in the other parts of the clause, or the whole clause, using impersonal IT. In this case, the second part of the sentence is a THAT-clause.

• It was from Sue that she first heard the news.• It was meeting Joe that really started me off on

this new line of work.

Questions?

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