O inglês tem uma ordem de palavras rígida e, justamente por isso, um repertório de recursos para deslocar a informação sem quebrá-la. A voz passiva, o «there» existencial e o «it» antecipador não são formas «mais elegantes»: são máquinas de mover o peso. Quem as usa por adorno escreve de forma pesada; quem as usa para colocar o novo no final escreve inglês.
| Princípio | Exemplo natural | Versão que range |
|---|---|---|
| o conhecido antes do novo | The report is on your desk. It was written by a consultant. | A consultant wrote the report which is on your desk. |
| peso final: longo, no final | She showed us the letter that her grandmother had kept for sixty years. | She showed the letter that her grandmother had kept for sixty years to us. |
| «Isso» antecipa o sujeito longo | It is astonishing that nobody noticed the error for three years. | That nobody noticed the error for three years is astonishing. |
| «there» apresenta o que ainda não existe no discurso | There is one objection that we have not answered yet. | One objection that we have not answered yet exists. |
| A voz passiva conserva o sujeito conhecido | The proposal was rejected by a committee nobody had consulted. | A committee nobody had consulted rejected the proposal. |
| O advérbio não se coloca entre o verbo e o objeto | She answered the question calmly and without notes. | She answered calmly the question and without notes. |
A regra do advérbio é a que mais vítimas causa entre falantes de espanhol, italianos e franceses. Em inglês, nada se interpõe entre o verbo e seu objeto direto: nem um advérbio, nem um complemento. «She speaks perfectly English» é a frase que denuncia um romance em dois segundos, e o remédio é mecânico: o advérbio vai atrás do objeto ou na frente do verbo, nunca no meio.
Ouça
Listen to each pair and decide which version an editor would leave alone. The first is natural and the second is merely correct. There is one detail that still worries me about the schedule. One detail about the schedule that still worries me exists. It became clear very quickly that the deadline was never realistic. That the deadline was never realistic became clear very quickly.
| Recurso | Para que serve de verdade | Quando soa a recheio |
|---|---|---|
| the passive | manter como sujeito o que já estava sendo discutido | quando o agente importa e se esconde por timidez |
| existential there | introduzir algo novo em cena | quando o sujeito já era conhecido e não havia necessidade de apresentá-lo |
| anticipatory it | tirar do princípio um sujeito de três linhas | quando o sujeito era breve e ficava melhor na frente |
| fronting an adverbial | estabelecer o quadro de tempo ou local antes de começar | quando se faz em todas as frases e o texto perde o pulso |
| the dative alternation | escolher entre «dar um livro ao homem» e «dar um livro ao homem» conforme qual é novo | quando é escolhido aleatoriamente e o peso fica na metade da frase |
| extraposition of a relative | enviar no final uma relativa longa que separava sujeito e verbo | quando a relativa é curta e o deslocamento confunde |
O outro par que decide o ritmo é «give the man a book» versus «give a book to the man». As duas estão corretas e não significam a mesma coisa do ponto de vista da informação: na primeira, o livro é a novidade, e na segunda, o homem. Escolher bem é o que faz com que a frase seguinte se enlace sozinha.
Ouça
Now listen for the heavy phrase and notice that it always arrives last. He gave the committee a summary of everything that had gone wrong that year. She sent her lawyer the only copy of the contract she had kept. They offered the newcomers a version of the story that suited nobody.
Reordene a sentença para que o novo e o longo fiquem no final. Escreva a versão que deixaria um revisor.
- That the figures had been rounded up by the finance team was obvious.
- She explained to the auditors the reason for the discrepancy.
- A serious flaw in the design of the survey exists.
- He reads perfectly the contracts before he signs them.
- The board sent a letter which nobody had been allowed to read to the staff.
- To be told the news by a stranger surprised her.
Ver soluções
- It was obvious that the figures had been rounded up by the finance team.
- She explained the reason for the discrepancy to the auditors.
- There is a serious flaw in the design of the survey.
- He reads the contracts carefully before he signs them.
- The board sent the staff a letter which nobody had been allowed to read.
- It surprised her to be told the news by a stranger.
Escolha a continuação que liga à frase anterior. Apenas uma respeita a ordem da informação.
- The audit found three irregularities. ___ (A junior analyst had reported all of them months earlier. · All of them had been reported months earlier by a junior analyst.)
- I finally met the architect on Friday. ___ (She turned out to be the sister of an old colleague of mine. · The sister of an old colleague of mine is what she turned out to be.)
- The proposal was circulated on Monday. ___ (By Wednesday it had been withdrawn without any explanation. · Without any explanation, a withdrawal of it had happened by Wednesday.)
- Everyone expected the vote to be close. ___ (A foregone conclusion, in the end, was what it turned out to be. · In the end it turned out to be a foregone conclusion.)
- They asked me to review the manuscript. ___ (I sent them a list of the twenty changes I thought unavoidable. · I sent a list of the twenty changes I thought unavoidable to them.)
- The reasons for the delay were never made public. ___ (That the contractor had gone bankrupt in March emerged only later. · It emerged only later that the contractor had gone bankrupt in March.)
Ver soluções
- All of them had been reported months earlier by a junior analyst.
- She turned out to be the sister of an old colleague of mine.
- By Wednesday it had been withdrawn without any explanation.
- In the end it turned out to be a foregone conclusion.
- I sent them a list of the twenty changes I thought unavoidable.
- It emerged only later that the contractor had gone bankrupt in March.
