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The object before the subject in English | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| jhaberstro Senior Member United States Joined 4394 days ago 112 posts - 154 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: French, Portuguese | Message 9 of 14 17 May 2013 at 8:02am | IP Logged | |||||
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The most common case I can think of where I've heard this being used is usually after I help my parents (or
someone not good with technology) with their computer. Usually it goes something like: "I just couldn't understand how it all worked!! But this, thanks to your help, I understand now!". Placing "this" at the front added emphasis by way of contrast with their previous incomprehension. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4708 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 10 of 14 17 May 2013 at 12:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
I would say it's not often. But there are certain cases where you're better off using it, if you want to express extreme emphasis. But it's not necessary and certainly not standard. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Hertz Pro Member United States Joined 4514 days ago 47 posts - 63 votes Speaks: English* Studies: German, Spanish, Mandarin Personal Language Map | Message 11 of 14 17 May 2013 at 7:37pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I would agree that it's uncommon. I can think of few examples where the direct object leads.
"How is your class?" "The math, I like." (Implying there are other parts I do not.) "That we will do." (Emphasizing the thing we will certainly do.) It's more common to construct a clause that puts the object in subject position. "The ball that the cat was playing with rolled under the table." (First the cat was playing, then the ball rolled.) "The cat was playing with the ball that rolled under the table." (First the ball rolled, then the cat played.) "The cat was playing with the ball, which then rolled under the table." (Same sequence as sentence 1, but different focus.) 2 persons have voted this message useful | ||||||
| agantik Triglot Senior Member France Joined 4636 days ago 217 posts - 335 votes Speaks: French*, English, Italian Studies: German, Norwegian | Message 12 of 14 17 May 2013 at 9:30pm | IP Logged | |||||
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You also have the case of "cleft sentences" such as:
What I mean is... where the object is both before (what) and after the subject. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| berabero89 Diglot Senior Member United States Joined 4643 days ago 101 posts - 137 votes Speaks: English, Amharic* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, French | Message 13 of 14 20 May 2013 at 12:10am | IP Logged | |||||
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This sort of usage is also often found in poetry or is used to give off a sense of a work
being archaic (eg. Thee I love). 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| tarvos Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2012 Senior Member China likeapolyglot.wordpr Joined 4708 days ago 5310 posts - 9399 votes Speaks: Dutch*, English, Swedish, French, Russian, German, Italian, Norwegian, Mandarin, Romanian, Afrikaans Studies: Greek, Modern Hebrew, Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, Korean, Esperanto, Finnish | Message 14 of 14 21 May 2013 at 4:16pm | IP Logged | |||||
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"The cat was playing with the ball that had rolled under the table." (First the
ball rolled, then the cat played.) Is how I'd write it, because the action was completed before the playing. Using "rolled" implies that the ball was rolling under the table while the cat was playing with it, and then you might even use "was rolling" to emphasize the duration of the action 1 person has voted this message useful |
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