Extraposition

Understanding Extraposition

Extraposition is a syntactic process where a phrase or clause is moved from its canonical position to a position later in the sentence. This movement often occurs with subjects, particularly when the subject is a long clause or when a dummy pronoun like ‘it’ is used.

Key Concepts

The core idea is shifting a grammatical element. This is frequently seen with subjects that are replaced by a placeholder, allowing the real subject to appear at the end of the sentence.

Deep Dive

Consider the sentence: ‘That he arrived late annoyed me.’ This can be transformed via extraposition to: ‘It annoyed me that he arrived late.’ Here, ‘that he arrived late’ is the logical subject, while ‘it’ is the expletive subject or dummy pronoun. This structure can improve readability and flow.

Applications

Extraposition is common in:

• Formal writing
• Clarifying complex sentences
• Emphasizing the content of the moved phrase

Example: ‘It seems that the train is delayed.’ vs. ‘That the train is delayed seems.’

Challenges & Misconceptions

A common misconception is that extraposition is always about ‘it’. However, other elements can be extraposed. It’s not merely a stylistic choice but can be driven by syntactic constraints.

FAQs

What is an expletive subject?

An expletive subject is a pronoun like ‘it’ or ‘there’ that occupies the subject position but does not refer to anything specific; it allows another element to function as the true subject.

Is extraposition only for subjects?

While most common with subjects, extraposition can also apply to other sentence constituents, though less frequently.