Fronting and Topicalization
Fronting moves a word or phrase to the front of a sentence to give it special emphasis or to establish it as the topic. It is a powerful stylistic device used in both formal writing and natural speech.
What is fronting?
Fronting (or topicalization) places an element that would normally appear later in the sentence at the beginning — making it the topic or creating emphasis. The rest of the sentence then comments on that topic.
I loved that film. → That film, I loved.
She had never seen such a beautiful sunset. → Such a beautiful sunset she had never seen.
We can accept delays, but poor quality we cannot accept.
Types of fronting
1. Object fronting — the object is moved to the front.
His generosity I will never forget.
That decision I still regret.
2. Fronted adverbials — adverbs or prepositional phrases moved to the front. Very common in English.
In the corner stood an old wooden clock.
On the table were three unopened letters.
3. Complement fronting — adjective or noun complements moved to the front.
Happy I was not. (= I was not happy)
Brilliant she certainly is.
Fronting vs inversion
| Fronting type | Inversion? | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Object fronted | No inversion | That book, I have already read. |
| Complement fronted | No inversion | Impressive it certainly was. |
| Place adverbial + intransitive | Yes | On the shelf was a small box. |
| Negative adverbial | Yes | Never had I seen such chaos. |
Why use fronting?
- To create contrast: Corruption we can deal with, but incompetence is harder to fix.
- To introduce a topic: As for the budget — that we can discuss later.
- For dramatic effect in writing or speech.
- To achieve cohesion by linking back to something just mentioned.
Register note: Object and complement fronting can sound literary or emphatic. Fronted adverbials are more common in prose. In informal speech, topic-comment structures without inversion are very natural.