Fronting and word order

1
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Two musicians sat on the bus this morning
• Fronting location
• On the bus sat two musicians this morning

2
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Two musicians played jazz on the bus this morning
• Fronting location
• On the bus two musicians played jazz this morning
• No further change in word order because of the
  object music (the verb played is transitive)

3
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Tina will never speak to him again
• Tina will under no circumstances speak to him
  again
• Fronting negative expression
• Never will Tina speak to him again
• Under no circumstances will Tina speak to him
  again

4
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Tony never knew loneliness until his mother died
• Fronting negative expression
• Never did Tony know loneliness until his mother
  died
• Use helping verb do in present and past tense
  (word order is like in a question)

5
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Two small children were found at the bottom of
  the well
• A ray of light was seen at the end of the tunnel
• Fronting participles
• Found at the bottom of the well were two small
  children
• Seen at the end of the tunnel was a ray of light

6
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Tom Cruise was shopping at Southpark Mall
• The bank robber was running from the police
• Fronting participles
• Shopping at Southpark Mall was Tom Cruise
• Running from the police was the bank robber

7
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Two small children were discovered at the bottom
  of the well
• Fronting of participle
• Discovered at the bottom of the well were two
  small children

8
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• The coffee was so hot that it burned her tongue
• They served such hot coffee that it burned her
  tongue
• Fronting of so/such
• So hot was the coffee that she burned her tongue
• Such hot coffee did they serve that it burned her
  tongue

9
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• After she came to New York, she learned English
• Fronting of only
• Only after she came to New York, did she learn
  English
• But She learned English only after she came to
  New York

10
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Only the members of the government knew the
  secret
• Only his best friend was told about it
• This is not fronting the subjects are
  members/friend and only modifies the subjects.
  Consequently, there are no changes in word order.
  The subject is first in the sentence where it
  normally goes.

11
Fronting and word order

• Normal
• Good friends are better than riches
• The satisfaction was sweeter than the victory
  itself
• Fronting of comparatives
• Better than riches are good friends
• Sweeter than the victory itself was the
  satisfaction