What is the term for the tendency to place new information at the end of a clause or sentence?

What is the term for the tendency to place new information at the end of a clause or sentence?

• A. End-weight
• B. Nominalization
• C. Cleft sentences
• D. Script

Answer: (A)

End-weight describes the tendency to place new or important information toward the end of a clause. In English, speakers often start with lighter, given material and carry the heavier, new information to the tail of the sentence. This ordering helps listeners process the sentence more easily and keeps the main action or point foregrounded, while the ending adds the context or detail that clarifies or expands it. For example: The committee approved the proposal after a lengthy debate. The core event is the approval, and the longer, contextual information about the debate comes at the end, guiding how we understand why the decision happened. The other terms refer to different concepts: nominalization is turning verbs into nouns, cleft sentences are a way to emphasize a specific part of a sentence, and a script is a familiar sequence of events stored in our knowledge. None of those describe the general pattern of ordering new information toward the end.

End-weight describes the tendency to place new or important information toward the end of a clause. In English, speakers often start with lighter, given material and carry the heavier, new information to the tail of the sentence. This ordering helps listeners process the sentence more easily and keeps the main action or point foregrounded, while the ending adds the context or detail that clarifies or expands it. For example: The committee approved the proposal after a lengthy debate. The core event is the approval, and the longer, contextual information about the debate comes at the end, guiding how we understand why the decision happened. The other terms refer to different concepts: nominalization is turning verbs into nouns, cleft sentences are a way to emphasize a specific part of a sentence, and a script is a familiar sequence of events stored in our knowledge. None of those describe the general pattern of ordering new information toward the end.