29562 sentence structure fronting

Fronting
We usually begin sentences with their grammatical subject. But sometimes we move things to
the front for emphasis.
• Crazy, that driver. (More emphatic than ‘That driver is crazy.’)
Moving something to the beginning of a sentence in this way is called fronting. Fronting is
very common in informal speech. The words that are usually fronted are objects and
complements.
• A very nice time we had yesterday. (= Yesterday we had a very nice time.)
• Nice people they are! (= They are nice people.)
• Lovely she is! (=She is lovely)
Question-word clauses are also often fronted.
• How she got the goods through customs I don’t understand. (= I don’t understand how
she got the goods through customs.)
• What I should do now I don’t know. (= I don’t know what I should do now.)
Adverbs and adverb particles
Adverbs and adverb particles are often fronted when giving instructions to small children.
• Down you come!
• Off we go!
• Out you come!
• Back you go to your study.
Another reason for fronting adverbs is for emphasis.
• Now you tell me! (= Why didn’t you tell me before?)
Examples and Observations:
•"Before the march of the flames were flung picket lines of soldiers."
(Jack London, "Story of an Eyewitness: The San Francisco Earthquake." Collier's Weekly,
May 5, 1906)
•"Powerful you have become Dooku, the dark side I sense in you."
(Yoda, Star Wars: Episode II--Attack of the Clones, 2002)


It is possible to begin an affirmative clause with the object or complement, in order to make

this the topic or give it more immediate importance. This kind of fronting is common in
informal speech:
Very good lesson we had yesterday.
Strange people they are!
Fronting of the object is also possible in a more formal style:
This question we have already discussed at some length.
In a few exclamatory expressions, a noun is fronted before that, but these are uncommon in
modern English.
Fool that I was!
Question-word clauses are often fronted.
What I'm going to do next I just don't know.
How she got the gun through customs we never found out.


Fronting
Adverbials (place)
On the table stood a vase of flowers
(A vase of flowers stood on the table)
There is / there are
Next to the window was a bookcase
(There was a bookcase next to the window)
Participles
Gone were the designer sunglasses
(The designer sunglasses were gone)
Other examples:
On the ground floor was a vegetable shop
Into the room rushed my father
Gone were the polite smiles and enthusiastic sales patter
Never have I seen such a terrible mess
Why she cut her hair I cannot imagine

General points
When part of a sentence is moved from its normal position to the beginning of the sentence,
we call this fronting. The part of the sentence moved to the front might be the object or some
other compliment, an adverbial or even the main verb itself.
Fronting is mainly used by writers (authors, journalists etc) for dramatic effect. It is not
common in everyday speech.
It is useful to be able to recognize fronting when you see it. However, you do not need to use
these structures to demonstrate a good working knowledge of English.
These notes cover some of the more common uses of fronting. There are others but they are
not very common.
• Students should not think that fronting is a general structure for giving emphasis.
There are other, far more common, ways of giving emphasis more generally (adverbs,
superlative adjectives, auxiliaries, cleft sentences etc.)
Fronting with adverbials of place and movement
This is one of the more common uses of fronting.
The garage was on the right of the house.
On the right of the house was the garage.
Note: The subject 'garage' and verb 'was' change position.
There's a small store room next to the kitchen.
Next to the kitchen is a small store room.
Note: The word 'there' is omitted and the subject and verb change position.
My mother had planted geraniums around the sides of the lawn.
Around the sides of the lawn my mother had planted geraniums.
Note: The subject and verb do not change position.
Practice: Change the word order of the sentences using fronting.
1. A large white cat sat in the middle of the bed.
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2. The robbers ran out of the bank.

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3. There’s an old man at the front door.
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4. He'd written her address on a small piece of paper.
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Fronting with negative adverbs of frequency: never, rarely etc
This is quite common and can express surprise, disapproval etc.
I've never seen such careless work.
Never have I seen such careless work.
Note: The subject and verb change position.
Practice: Change the word order using fronting.


5. I've rarely eaten such a delicious meal.

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Fronting with question-word clauses
We don't know when he left.
When he left we don't know.
Note: The subject and verb don't change position.
Practice: change the word order using fronting
6. I can't understand why she didn't tell us.
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7. We have no idea where she has gone.

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8. Nobody knows how he escaped.

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