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Anonymous Posted 19 years ago
Grammar

inversion

What you think boring your friends may find exciting.

This sounds strange to me.

Someone says it's the inversion of object (what you think boring), which I'm not entirely sure of.

Is there anyone could clarify on this?
  

Top answer

I would call this "fronting". The object has been "fronted". ) The sentence is very hard to read without a comma.

— Yankee

  • I would call this "fronting".
  • The object has been "fronted".
  • ) The sentence is very hard to read without a comma.
  • In spoken English, there would be a pause between the words 'boring' and 'your'.
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7 Answers
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I would call this "fronting". The object has been "fronted". (You find what boring.)

The sentence is very hard to read without a comma. In spoken English, there would be a pause between the words 'boring' and 'your'.
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This is a common structure. Grammarians use different terms to describe whatand what Emotion: smile follows it in the sentence. To my mind
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Yankee The object has been "fronted".
What object?
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Bokeh
Yankee The object has been "fronted".
What object? Yes, "what".
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What object?
The direct object of the verb find.

Your friends may find [this] exciting.
Your friends may find [what you think boring] exciting.

Fronted:

[What you think boring], your friends may find exciting.

CJ
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CalifJimYour friends may find [what you think boring] exciting.
Is there a special term for that type of object (one formed from a string)?
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As far as I know, there is no general term for objects formed from a string of words. I would call it a noun phrase, but that doesn't restrict it to objects, because subjects are also noun phrases. I suspect there may be many different terms, depending which writer you consult. Maybe others know that answer.

CJ
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