8 Combining messages 279

Adverbial clauses 280

Time clauses 281

Conditional clauses 284

Purpose clauses 287

Reason clauses 288

Result clauses 288

Concessive clauses 290

Place clauses 291

Clauses of manner 291

Relative clauses 292

Using relative pronouns in defining clauses 293

Using relative pronouns in non-defining clauses 294

Using relative pronouns with prepositions 294

Using 'whose' 295

Using other relative pronouns 295

Additional points about non-defining relative clauses 296

Nominal relative clauses 296

Non-finite clauses 297

Using non-defining clauses 297

Using defining clauses 298

Other structures used like non-finite clauses 299

Coordination 299

Linking clauses 299

Linking verbs 301

Linking noun groups 302

Linking adjectives and adverbs 303

Linking other word groups 304

Emphasizing coordinating conjunctions 304

Linking more than two clauses or word groups 305

Contents of Chapter 9 306

9 Making texts 310

Referring back 311

Referring back in a specific way 311

Referring back in a general way 313

Substituting for something already mentioned: using 'so' and 'not' 315

Comparing with something already mentioned 315

Referring forward 317

Leaving out words: ellipsis 318

Ellipsis in conversation 320

Contents of Chapter 10 321

10 The structure of information 326

Introduction 326

Focusing on the thing affected: the passive voice 326

Selecting focus: cleft sentences 330

Taking the focus off the subject: using impersonal 'it' 331

Describing a place or situation 332

Talking about the weather and the time 332

Commenting on an action, activity, or experience 333

Commenting on a fact that you are about to mention 334

Introducing something new: 'there' as subject 334

Focusing on clauses or clause elements using adjuncts 336

Commenting on your statement: sentence adjuncts 336

Indicating your attitude to what you are saying 336

Stating your field of reference 338

Showing connections: linking adjuncts 339

Indicating a change in a conversation 340

Emphasizing 341

Indicating the most relevant thing: focusing adverbs 342

Other information structures 343

Putting something first: fronting 343

Introducing your statement: prefacing structures 344

Doing by saying: performative verbs 344

Exclamations 345

Making a statement into a question: question tags 346

Addressing people: vocatives 347

Contents of the Reference Section 348

Reference Section 348

Pronunciation guide 348

Forming plurals of count nouns 349

Forming comparative and superlative adjectives 350

The spelling and pronunciation of possessives 352

Numbers 353

Cardinal numbers 353

Ordinal numbers 354

Fractions and percentages 354

Verb forms and the formation of verb groups 355

Finite verb groups and the formation of tenses 361

Non-finite verb groups: infinitives and participles 364

Forming adverbs 366

Forming comparative and superlative adverbs 367

Index 368

10 The structure of information

Introduction

10.1 The position of the elements of clause structure in a statement usually follows the sequence 'subject, verb, object, complement, adjunct'. The subject which is what you are going to talk about, comes first. If you want to express yourself normally and not draw special attention to any part of the clause, then you follow this sequence.

Donald was lying on the bed.

She has brought the tape with her.

He wiped the glass dry with a tea-towel.

The examples above are in the declarative mood. Chapter 4 explains the mood system in English and shows how other meanings can be expressed using the interrogative and imperative moods. These other moods involve regular changes in the sequence of elements in the clause.

Is he ill?

Put it on the table.

10.2 However, there are other ways of putting the elements of clause structure in a different sequence, in order to give special emphasis or meaning to the clause or a part of it.

In his enthusiasm, Captain Cheshire had hoped to raise the money this year.

The third sheet he folded and placed in his pocket.

This applies mainly to main clauses. This Chapter shows how you can vary the clause elements in a main clause when you want to give special force to the whole clause or to one of its elements.

In most subordinate clauses, you have no choice about the order of the clause elements (see Chapter 8).

10.3 One way of varying the sequence of elements in the clause is to use the passive voice. The passive voice allows you to talk about an event from the point of view of the thing or person affected, and even to avoid mentioning who or what was responsible for the action.

Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The passive is explained in paragraphs 10.8 to 10.24.

cleft structures 10.4 Another way of varying the sequence of elements in the clause is to use a cleft structures. There are three different types.

One type allows you to focus on the person or thing you are talking about, as in 'It was Jason who told them'.

The second type allows you to focus on an action, as in 'What they did was break a window and get in that way' or 'All I could do was cry'.

The third type allows you to focus on the circumstances of an action, for example the time or the place, as in 'It was one o'clock when they left', or 'It was in Paris that they met for the first time'.

impersonal 'it' 10.5 When you want to say something about a fact, an action, or a particular state, you can use a structure beginning with 'it', for example 'It's strange that he didn't call', 'It's easy to laugh', and 'It's no fun being stupid'.

You also use an 'it' structure to talk about the weather or the time, for example 'It's raining', 'It's a nice day', and 'It's two o'clock'.

'It' structures are dealt with in the section beginning at paragraph 10.31.

'there' with 'be' 10.6 'There' is used followed by 'be' and a noun group to introduce the idea of the existence of presence of something. This makes the noun group, which is new information, the focus of the clause. For more information, see paragraphs 10.46 to 10.55.

There is someone in the bushes.

adjuncts 10.7 There are also several types of adjunct which you can use to focus on a clause as a whole, or on different elements of the clause. These include sentence adjuncts (see the section beginning at paragraph 10.56), linking adjuncts (see paragraphs 10.73 to 10.81), and focusing adverbs (see paragraphs 10.87 to 10.91).

He never writes, of course.

This can be done reasonably easily. Still, it's not a nice idea.

As a child she was particularly close to her elder sister.