English Grammar II
Word order choices
What do I need to do to pass this course?
1) Do the re-sits if you need to (available in ELF May 31 – June 13);
2) Check your absences (I’ll send you an overview after this class). If you
have more than one absence, contact T. Šplíchalová for an extra
assignment at tereza.splichalova@mail.muni.cz.
3) Register for a submission date regarding your final oral presentation via
IS. (Fridays 4/6, 11/6, 18/6, 25/6, 2/7, 9/7).
4) Prepare an oral presentation on a topic of your choice and submit it in
ELF. More info is to be found in ELF, but everything is as it was last
semester.
Get in touch with me if there are any questions: david.ryska@mail.muni.cz
What’s the unmarked English word order?
My mother makes the best lasagna.
What’s the unmarked English word order?
S V O
My mother makes the best lasagna.
When do we use marked word order?
information flow (given
vs. new information)
focus and emphasis
contrast
weight
1) Once upon a time there was a small
kingdom. In the kingdom there lived a
king and his three daughters. The
daughers’ names were...
2) It’s my mom who makes the best
lasagna.
3) I didn’t do it, and neither did she.
4) Also popular for travelling are quilted,
overblown pseudo-ski jackets in pink or
blue that look like duvets rampants.
How can we manipulate the word order?
1) This I do not understand.
2) At the podium stood her husband.
3) There was nobody here yesterday.
4) That picture of a frog, where is it?
5) What I really need is another credit card.
6) ‘Give it to me, Paul.’ vs. ’Give me it, Paul.’
existential there clauses fronting dislocation
clefting subject-verb inversion ordering of object
How can we manipulate the word order?
1) This I do not understand.
2) At the podium stood her husband.
3) There was nobody here yesterday.
4) That picture of a frog, where is it?
5) What I really need is another credit card.
6) ‘Give it to me, Paul.’ vs. ’Give me it, Paul.’
fronting
inversion
existential there c.
dislocation
clefting
ordering of the object
Inversion
A) Subject-verb inversion
Behind the chair stood an old man.
Out came Mrs Morris.
B) Subject-operator inversion
Little does he realise how important this meeting is. (negative expressions)
John can speak and so can I. (parallel addition)
So badly was he affected that he had to learn to speak again. (after so, such, as)
May the force be with you. (formulaic expressions)
Fronting,
clefting,
dislocation;
what’s the
difference?
A) FRONTING
• almost anything following the verb can be fronted
This I don’t understand. (fronted NP in object position)
Whether Nancy was there she could not be certain. (fronted adj. complement)
Far more serious were the severe head injuries. (fronted predicative)
Waiting below was Michael Sams. (fronted non-finite clause)
B) CLEFTING
• breaking up a single piece of info into two clauses;
• begins with it (it-clefts) or a wh-word (wh-clefts), contains finite to be
It’s a man I want. <compare: I want a man>
It’s here that the finite element analysis comes into its own.
What I really need is another credit card.
C) DISLOCATION
• contains a definite NP (or a proper name) + a co-referential pronoun in the core
clause
This little shop, it’s lovely. (preface)
Sharon she plays bingo on Sunday nights. (preface)
Has it got double doors, that ship? (noun phrase tag)