Information package hints¶
The grammar of the clause makes available a number of constructions that enable us to express a given core meaning in different ways, depending on how we wish to to present or ”package” the information.
Kim broke the vase
The vase was broken by Kim
The vase Kim broke
It was Kim who broke the vase
What Kim broke was the vase
All have the same core meaning, in the sense that there is no situation or context in which one of them would be true and another false.
The first is the syntactically most basic, while the others belong to various information-packaging constructions.
Goal¶
Theme: Starting slot Rheme: Everything else Focus: The placement of new information
To ensure the Theme (the start) leads naturally to the Focus.
The Principle of End-Focus (The End)¶
While the Theme (at the start) anchors the reader, the Rheme (everything else) usually contains the new Information.
English has a natural “gravity” that pulls new, complex, or important information toward the end of the clause.
Principle of End-Weight: We prefer to put “heavy” (long, complex) phrases at the end so the sentence doesn’t feel top-heavy.
End-Focus: We usually place the most important or “news-breaking” part of the message at the very end to give it rhetorical impact.
English prefers to start with the Subject/Theme/Topic (the “Anchor”) but ends with the most important information (the “Focus”).
When you write, you aren’t just choosing words; you are deciding what to use as the hook at the start and what to save for the punchline at the end.
The “English Conflict”¶
The tension in English writing comes from deciding which information is given (Theme) and which is new* (End-Focus).
Object be the Theme/Subject¶
Use passive voice
The committee (T/S) rejected the idea (default)
The idea (T/S) was rejected by the committee (use this if the paragraph is about the idea, not the committee).
Force end-focus of something specific¶
Cleft sentence
It is the logic that I find flawed. (“logic” moved to a position of high focus near the end).
Give → New¶
The “Given-Before-New” Preference: English speakers prefer to start with something the reader already knows (The Theme/Topic) and end with the new “point” they are making.
Start with the familiar: Align your Subject, Theme, and Topic to tell the reader “This is where we are standing.”
End with the impact: Use the end of the sentence to deliver the specific point or “precise meaning” you are trying to convey.
The Theme/Topic sits at the beginning because it is the “given” information. The Focus (the new information) sits at the end.
Topic [Theme/Given] → Predicative [Focus/New]
The author’s conclusion [Topic] is absurd [Focus].
The “Aha!”: “that it’s absurd”
The Shift: Topic at the end¶
Topic to the end when the topic itself is the “news,” or when it is too “heavy” (long and complex) to put at the front
Predicative fronting:
Predicative [Theme] → Topic [Focus]
Absurd [Theme] is the author’s conclusion [Focus].
The “Aha!”: what being judged
End-weight and balance¶
English also has a structural preference for End-Weight. If you have a very long, complex phrase, English “wants” it at the end.
That the argument was based on a flawed understanding of 18th-century logic was clear. (Unbalanced, the Subject/Theme is too “heavy”).
It was clear that the argument was based on a flawed understanding of 18th-century logic. (balanced, the heavy information is moved to the end-focus position).
Directness: As you refine your English voice, you’ll find that “Directness” often comes from keeping the Anchor (the start) lean and simple, so the Punchline (the end) carries all the power.
Hollow clause and tough construction¶
The subject of the matrix clause is logically the object of an embedded non-finite verb:
I believe him to be honest
“Him” as the object of the first verb rather than the subject of the second, to align with the “information packaging” strategy of English.
Treat the person or thing discussed as the immediate “target” of the matrix verb (I find this theory to be…), creating a tighter, more direct link between opinion (find) and the topic (theory) - before you even get to the descriptive part of the subordinate clause (to be…).
Essentially, CGEL sees the matrix clause as “grabbing” the most important noun from the subordinate clause to keep it front-and-center, and also leaves the subordinate subject unexpressed.
The “Hammer Blow”: Delayed Focus¶
At the end