Fronting

(a)It was an amazing holiday
(b)What an amazing holiday it was

Fronting = placing an object, complement or clause at the start of the sentence to give emphasis.

Examples:

It was really cold
Really cold it was.

It’s a horrible place
What a horrible place it is. (what for nouns)

You are tall
How tall you are! (how for adjectives)

I have no idea how she manages to work at night
How she manages to work at night I have no idea.

We sometimes front to make things:
1) sound more interesting e.g. beautiful it was.
2) show annoyance or surprise e.g. why he’s always late, I’ve no idea, or, why on earth he’s always late, I’ve no idea.

Some types of fronting involve inversion of the subject and verb:

Paul’s wife was waiting at the airport
Waiting at the airport was Paul’s wife.

The invoice for November is attached
Attached is the invoice for November.

Although she was upset, she did the presentation
Upset as/though she was, she did the presentation.




How she puts up with him I just don’t know

Why they decided to buy me a walking stick I couldn’t tell you.