An adaption of the lecturette (

1. CHANGING the
FOCUS of a
SENTENCE
www.slideshare.net/pietvanderlaan/changing-the-focus-of-a-sentence? ADAPTED

2. In most AFFIRMATIVE
CLAUSES, the SUBJECT of the
VERB comes FIRST
• They went to Australia in 1956.
• I’ve no idea who it was.

3. However, to ADD EMPHASIS…
• In 1956 they went to Australia.
• Who it was I have no idea.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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 • solution
• point • conclusion
• rule • trouble
• fact • question
• truth • problem
• thing

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Questions?
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