Spotlight / Focus
Focus
Emphasis
Cleft
Contrastive focus
What is the most important new information?
booster
intermediate
Information structure
Bedeutung
The part of the message that carries the main emphasis, contrast, correction, or answer to the current question.
So erkennst Du es
Ask which part would be stressed or corrected in context.
Beispiele
Wörter
only|even|it was|not X but Y
Ausdrücke
it was Anna who|ANNA did it|only Peter
Satz
Anna bought the book, not Peter.
Visual guide
Basic shape
Message = background + focus Who bought the book? background: bought the book FOCUS: Anna Anna bought the book. = Anna, not Peter
Compare shape
Same focus, many shapes Stress: ANNA did it Cleft: it was Anna who... Particle: only Peter Contrast: not X but Y Word order/focus slot may mark it Task: find the spotlight
Sprachansicht
In deiner Sprache
German (standard)
Ausprägung
strong
Bedeutung
Focus is shown by word order, stress and particles rather than a single marker.
Das Buch habe ich gelesen.
The book have I read.
In deiner Lernsprache
Bengali (standard)
Ausprägung
strong
Schwierigkeit
Focus can be shown by stress, word order and particles such as -ই.
আমি-ই কাজটা করেছি।
I myself did the work.
Typische Lernhürde
Learners may miss the strong exclusive/corrective force of -ই.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.