Word Order and Information Focus

Level 6

Word order can reflect what is already known and what is new or contrasted.

How It Works

Word order can reflect what is already known and what is new or contrasted. Moving a phrase does not remove case marking or the normal placement of clitics.

Putting knjigo first can establish it as the topic; ending with Ana can identify the person who read it as new information. Case and agreement preserve who did what. Word order is flexible for discourse, not random.

Examples (3)

  1. To knjigo sem prebral včeraj.

    I read this book yesterday.

  2. Včeraj sem prebral to knjigo.

    Yesterday I read this book.

  3. Knjigo je prebrala Ana.

    It was Ana who read the book.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Word Order and Information FocusLevel 6

Learn This First

Preserve clitic position while changing which phrase is topic or focus.