My previous two columns took up the use of the passive voice and of cleft sentences to draw attention to a particular aspect of the sentence that we want to emphasize. We saw that these constructions free us from the constricting tyranny of the active voice; with them we don’t have to spotlight the doer of the action when it’s really uncalled for or even undesirable. This time we will take up another construction that purposively disrupts the typical declarative order of sentences. It is
extraposition, or the postponement of the subject until the end of the clause or sentence to achieve emphasis, stylistic effect, or smooth transition.
For more examples of the wide variety of extraposition devices that can enliven your prose, check out Richard Nordquist’s “Extraposition in Grammar” in the ThoughtCo. website, https://www.thoughtco.com/extraposition-grammar-term-1690626Extraposition is particularly useful for creating mood and evoking atmosphere. Consider these opening lines of Carson McCuller’s novel,
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter:
“In the town there were two mutes, and they were always together. Early every morning they would come out from the house where they lived and walk arm and arm down the street to work.”
In the first sentence, the subject “mute” was deferred to the end of the first clause, and the phrase “in the town” was used ahead of it to begin the sentence. In the second sentence, the phrase “early every morning” preceded the subject “they” to begin the first clause. The extrapositions here create a languorous storytelling atmosphere and tone, making it clear that the narrator will not be hurried, that she will tell the story in her own sweet time. Extraposition, in that sense, works as a literary pacing device.
Now see what happens when the extraposed sentences of the passage from
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter are constructed in normal declaratives instead:
“There were two mutes in the town who were always together. They would come out early every morning from the house where they lived. They would then come arm and arm down the street to work.”
This time the cadence is hurried and businesslike, with the narrator evidently keen on getting done with the story as quickly as possible. The mechanical, almost wooden language has killed off the literary flavor of the original. It is, as many beginning writers soon discover, difficult to evoke feeling in literary exposition or prose narratives without ample use of extraposition.
This isn’t to say, however, that extraposition finds use only in literary writing. It’s also effective as a continuity or transitional device in extemporaneous speech, as in this racing spiel:
“Now here they come, running through the halfway mark... Firmly in the lead is River Rover, followed on the outside by Land Cruiser, while third on the inside is Air Bubbles...”
This language is obviously more evocative, more inviting than in this version in simple declaratives:
“They are now running through the halfway mark. River Rover is firmly in the lead. Land Cruiser is following on the outside. Air Bubbles is third on the inside...”
Extraposition also works wonders in spoken and written dialogue. It creates tension and faster transitions:
“Priority should be given to the Beta account, do you hear?”
“Are you telling me, sir, that you consider the Beta account more important than Alpha?
“More important, my dear fellow, is retaining our bread-and-butter account than pampering a high-profile but low-revenue one, don’t you see?”
See how lame each of the exchanges above becomes when done in simple declaratives:
“Didn’t you hear me? The Beta account should be given priority.”
“You consider the Beta account more important than Alpha? Is that what you are telling me, sir?”
“My dear fellow, don’t you see? Retaining our bread-and-butter account is more important than pampering a high-profile but low- revenue one.”
Another way of achieving extraposition is to introduce the subject of the sentence by an anticipatory “it,” as in these sentences: “
It’s a wonderful thing to swim in the pool before breakfast.” “
It wasn’t totally unexpected that the candidate would be disqualified.”
These extraposed sentences sound more natural than when constructed in the normal subject-verb-predicate pattern: “To swim in the pool before breakfast is a wonderful thing.” “That the candidate would be disqualified wasn’t totally unexpected.”
In some instances, in fact, extraposition is mandatory and not just a matter of style: “
It looks like she won’t make it to the finish line this time.”
Its simple declarative version simply won’t work: “That she won’t make it to the finish line this time looks like.”
One caveat, though: extraposition that uses the anticipatory “it” isn’t the same as the “it” cleft. Recall that “it” cleft sentences take the tone and form of statements seeking to correct someone’s wrong idea, as in “
It wasn’t us but the night-shift guys that left the backdoor open.”
In contrast, extraposition using the anticipatory “it” stands as a declaration all by itself, not one contravening an antecedent statement. Quite simply, it is a statement that draws attention to itself simply by avoiding the simple declarative route.
This essay, which first appeared in my weekly column “English Plain and Simple” in The Manila Times
, subsequently became Chapter 69 of my book Giving Your English the Winning Edge
, ©2009 by the Manila Times Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.Read this essay and listen to its voice recording in The Manila Times
:Using extraposition for emphasisNext week:
The virtue of elliptical constructions (January 23, 2025)
Visit Jose Carillo’s English Forum, http://josecarilloforum.com. You can follow me on Facebook and X (Twitter) and e-mail me at j8carillo@yahoo.com.
