Sentence Structure

Cleft sentences and inversion for emphasis

简介

分裂句和倒装句是用来强调的强大工具。"It was John who..."（做这件事的是约翰）和"What I need is..."（我需要的是……）这样的结构能把焦点放在特定的信息上。

否定表达后的倒装（"Never have I seen..."——我从未见过……）能创造出正式而有力的表达，常见于演讲、文学作品和正式写作中。

中文里也有"正是……""从来没有……"这样的强调方式，但英语的分裂句和倒装句有独特的句式结构。掌握这些，你就能把普通的句子变成引人注目的、有气势的表达。

主题

本章全部英语语法（31）

• Cleft Sentences Structures that emphasize specific information (It was... that)
• Inversion Inverting subject and verb for emphasis or in formal structures
• Fronting Moving elements to the front of a sentence for emphasis
• Extraposition Moving clause subjects to the end using 'it'
• Ellipsis Leaving out words that can be understood from context
• Pseudo-Cleft Sentences What/All/The thing...is constructions for emphasis
• Substitution with so/not/do Avoiding repetition by substituting or omitting
• Fronting for Emphasis Moving elements to sentence-initial position
• Advanced 'there' Constructions Complex existential sentences
• Inversion after 'Only...' Subject-auxiliary inversion after 'only' expressions
• So do I / Neither do I Expressing agreement with inversion
• Hardly/Scarcely...when, No sooner...than Expressing immediacy of sequence
• Ellipsis after Auxiliaries Omitting repeated information after auxiliaries
• Substitution with 'one/ones' Replacing nouns to avoid repetition
• Extraposition with 'It' Moving clauses to the end with anticipatory 'it'
• What-cleft Sentences Focusing information with 'what' clauses
• Nominalization (Verb → Noun) Converting verbs to nouns for formal style
• At no time / On no account Emphatic negative expressions with inversion
• Only when / Only after / Only if Inversion after 'only + time/condition expressions'
• So + adj / Such + noun (fronted) Emphatic degree expressions with inversion
• Comment clauses (I suppose, I gather, mind you) Parenthetical expressions showing speaker attitude
• Binomials (fixed pairs) Two words linked by and/or in fixed order
• Split infinitive Putting an adverb between 'to' and the verb
• Gradable vs non-gradable adjectives Adjectives that can or cannot be modified by degree
• Intensifiers and downtoners Words that strengthen or weaken degree
• Fronting (object/complement fronting) Moving elements to sentence start for emphasis
• End-focus and end-weight Placing important/heavy information at the end
• Sluicing (ellipsis after wh-word) Omitting everything after a question word
• Gapping (verb ellipsis) Omitting repeated verb in coordinate structures
• so...that / such...that (result clauses) Expressing degree with a result
• Parallelism in rhetoric Using matching grammatical structures for effect