EXTRAPOSITION OF CLAUSES
We have seen that certain types of long subject clauses are usually avoided in English because they violate the end-weight principle, and sound awkward. Finite that-clauses, wh-nominal clauses and to-infinitive clauses can all be shifted to the end of the sentence and replaced by ‘anticipatory it’ in subject position. The resulting structure is called extraposition.
Clause as Subject Extraposed clause
That the banks are closed on It’s a nuisance that the banks are
Saturday is a nuisance. closed on Saturday.
What they are proposing to do It’s horrifying what they are proposing
is horrifying. to do.
To interfere would be unwise. It would be unwise to interfere.
Extraposed clauses are much preferred in spoken English to the non-extraposed, as they sound much less awkward. The reason for this is that they satisfy the principles of end-weight and end-focus, thus ‘packaging’ the information in a way that is easier to process. A non-extraposed that-clause, if not too long, may be preferred, however, as in ‘That we’ve gotten to this point is astonishing’ (AmE).
Extraposition is often used to express an opinion or to argue one’s case. An evaluative word, such as a nuisance, horrifying, unwise comes in the middle, carrying a certain amount of stress. The main focus falls at the end of the sentence, reversing the distribution of information in the non-extraposed clause.
Normal -ing clauses as subject are not perceived to be awkward, and there is less motivation to extrapose them. When they are extraposed, they are usually short and do not necessarily carry the main focus. For this reason, they give the impression of being additions to the main clause, rather than extraposed subjects:
Having you with us has been a PLEASURE. It’s been a PLEASURE, having you with us.
Seeing all the family again was NICE. It was NICE seeing all the family again.
In formal language, English does not normally allow extraposed NGs as in *It was amazing his insolence– though, as a right dislocation with appropriate intonation, it is possible to have It was amazing, his insolence, where a pause or a comma signals the dislocated NG. In spontaneous speech extraposed NGs do occur:
It’s been amazing the support we’ve had.
It’s unbelievable the lengths some people are prepared to go to.
Obligatory extraposition after seem, appear, happen, look as if – after the expressions
it’s high time, it’s a pity, it’s no use, and the passive of say, hope and intend.
N.B. Certain constructions do not admit extraposition. One of these is the wh-cleft with a clause as subject, as in What we should do next is the main problem. (*It is the main problem what we should do next.) Another case is multiple embedding, as in That he failed his driving test the seventh time demonstrates that he lacks confidence. Here the first that-clause cannot be extraposed over the second (*It demonstrates that he lacks confidence that he failed his driving test for the seventh time).
