Page 151 - IELTS Preparation Grammar and Vocab

Word order and emphasis 21

Grammar

EU Fronting
We can emphasise a particular part of a sentence by moving it to the front of the sentence, changing the usual
word order
She sees making music as a fundamental part of a child's development. -'Making music she sees as a
fundamental part of a child's development. (fronting of object)
She resisted this.
This she resisted. (fronting of object)
Maria had been writing to me for some weeks. For some weeks Maria had been writing to me. (fronting of
adverbial)
EH Cleft sentences

atrit47

It's among children from poorer backgrounds that the Music in Schools project has had most impact.
(emphasising among children from poorer backgrounds)
What impressed us most was the way she calmly and clearly argued her case. (emphasising the way she calmly
and clearly argued her case)

An it-cleft has the structure it + is/was + emphasised part + relative clause. The relative pronoun can be that,
which, who or no relative pronoun. When and where are used only in informal English:
It was in the mid-1990s that we first met, or informally ... when we first met.
A sentence with a wh-deft usually has the structure what-clause + is/was + emphasised part. Sometimes we use
all instead of what
What she was suggesting was that members of the YCO would volunteer their services.
All she ever wanted to do as she was growing up was play the violin. (= the only thing she ever wanted to do)
After the what-clause we usually use a singular form of be fn or was). However, informally, a plural form (are or
were) is sometimes used before a plural noun:
What she hopes to see is/are children who enjoy a wide range of musical styles.
We can sometimes put a wh-cleft at the end of a sentence
The way she calmly and clearly argued her case was what impressed us most
The Music in Schools project is what came out of our meeting.
To emphasise an action we can use a wh-cleft with what + subject + form of do + form of be + (to) + infinitive:
What she did was (to)convince us of the value of a musical education.

BD Inversion

In front of the committee sat Maria. (= verb + subject)
Seldom did she raise her voice.
(= do + subject + verb) = inversion of normal word order
Never have I heard such a persuasive speaker (= auxiliary + subject + verb)
Word order is inverted after certain words and phrases when these are pu at the beginning of a sentence or
clause in order to emphasise them. This kind of inversion is found mainly in formal speech and writing.

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