📄️ Word order and focus
There are a number of ways in which we can arrange subjects, verbs, objects, complements and adjuncts within a clause. Depending on how we arrange them, we can focus on certain elements over others, especially if we arrange them in an unusual way.
📄️ Word order: structures
There are a number of options which we can use to add emphasis or focus within a clause.
📄️ Cleft sentences (It was in June we got married.)
We use cleft sentences, especially in speaking, to connect what is already understood to what is new to the listener. In a cleft sentence, a single message is divided (cleft) into two clauses. This allows us to focus on the new information.
📄️ Fronting
The most common word order in a declarative clause is subject (s) + verb (v) + object (o) or complement:
📄️ Inversion
Inversion happens when we reverse (invert) the normal word order of a structure, most commonly the subject-verb word order. For example, a statement has the subject (s) before the verb (v), but to make question word order, we invert the subject and the verb, with an auxiliary (aux) or modal verb (m) before the subject (s):
📄️ No sooner
No sooner is used to show that one thing happens immediately after another thing. It is often used with the past perfect, and usually followed by than:
📄️ Not only … but also
We use not only X but also Y in formal contexts: