What role does "this" play in "It's a very big march this."?
U Uncanny Junior Member Joined Aug 3, 2023 Member Type Student or Learner Native Language Slovak Home Country Slovak Republic Current Location Slovak Republic Aug 30, 2023 #1 What role does "this" play in "It's a very big march this."?
emsr2d2 Moderator Staff member Joined Jul 28, 2009 Member Type English Teacher Native Language British English Home Country UK Current Location UK Aug 30, 2023 #2 It's a different (and informal) way of saying "This is a very big march". It puts the emphasis on "this" so it can be compared with other marches.
It's a different (and informal) way of saying "This is a very big march". It puts the emphasis on "this" so it can be compared with other marches.
Amigos4 VIP Member Joined Oct 1, 2007 Member Type Academic Native Language American English Home Country United States Current Location United States Aug 31, 2023 #3 The sentence would not be natural in AmE. As emsr2d2 points out, “This is a very big march" is more natural. Last edited: Aug 31, 2023
The sentence would not be natural in AmE. As emsr2d2 points out, “This is a very big march" is more natural.
R Rover_KE Moderator Staff member Joined Jun 20, 2010 Member Type Retired English Teacher Native Language British English Home Country England Current Location England Aug 31, 2023 #4 It's a common enough informal construction, especially with a comma before 'this'. In a related context, (when the subject has already been mentioned) a comma is mandatory; He was a genius, Einstein. He's a very rich man, Elon Musk. Last edited: Aug 31, 2023
It's a common enough informal construction, especially with a comma before 'this'. In a related context, (when the subject has already been mentioned) a comma is mandatory; He was a genius, Einstein. He's a very rich man, Elon Musk.