New / Given Information
Is this information new or already in the conversation?
Bedeutung
Whether a piece of information is being introduced, repeated, contrasted, assumed, resumed, or made prominent.
So erkennst Du es
Ask whether the listener already has this information in the mental scene.
Beispiele
new|known|already mentioned|same one
a man... the man|this idea|that problem
A woman entered the room. The woman smiled.
Visual guide
Conversation state: 1 NEW A woman entered. -> add woman #1 2 GIVEN The woman smiled. -> reuse woman #1 Listener already has it.
One referent, many statuses: NEW: a woman GIVEN: the woman RESUMED: she / Ø CONTRAST: that woman Languages mark this by: article, order, stress, particle, pronoun, omission
Sprachansicht
In deiner Sprache
New and given information are managed by word order, articles and stress.
Auf dem Tisch liegt ein Buch.
On the table lies a book.
In deiner Lernsprache
New and given information are tracked by articles, pronouns, repetition, stress, and topic structures.
Une femme est entrée. La femme a souri.
A woman entered. The woman smiled.
Learners often repeat nouns too much or choose articles that do not match discourse status.
Same block, different coding
Both languages use this block strongly, but they signal it differently. Focus on form changes, not only meaning.