When Sentences Wander: Dislocation in English Syntax

If you’re a fan of the wonderfully twisty ways language can behave — and let’s be honest, who wouldn't be — then allow me to introduce you to one of syntax’s most charming quirks: dislocation.

No, not a rugby injury. In linguistics, dislocation is when a word or phrase gets shifted to the beginning or end of a sentence, rather than staying where it “should” logically sit. It's a move that adds emphasis, clarity, or just a lovely bit of natural rhythm to speech and writing.

What Is Syntactic Dislocation?

Simply put, dislocation in syntax is when part of a sentence is moved out of its normal place, but is still referred to by a pronoun inside the sentence. And honestly? English would sound a lot duller without it.

How Dislocation Works in English Syntax

There are two main types of dislocation:

• Left Dislocation: The moved bit comes before the main sentence.

• Right Dislocation: The moved bit comes after the main sentence.

In both cases, a pronoun inside the main sentence “stands in” for the displaced word or phrase, helping the listener keep track of what’s going on.

Left Dislocation

This is when you put the important bit at the front, then build the sentence around it.

Example:

That book, I haven’t finished it yet.

Normally, you’d expect something like, “I haven’t finished that book yet.” But by dislocating that book to the front, you’re drawing attention to it.

More examples:

My brother, he’s moving to Australia.

Mrs. Wilson, she teaches English and drama.

That dog, it’s always barking.

Here, my brother is introduced first, and he, inside the sentence, refers back to him.

Right Dislocation

This flips things around: you get the sentence first, and then tag on the important bit at the end.

Example:

I haven’t finished it yet, that book.

You hear this all the time when people are clarifying what they’re talking about. It’s useful when you blurt something out and then realise you need to explain a bit more — very common in casual chat.

More Examples:

He’s moving to Australia, my brother.

She teaches English and drama, Mrs. Wilson does.

It’s always barking, that dog.

It’s like an afterthought — but a helpful one. Right dislocation often helps make spoken language more understandable, especially when new information is involved.

When Do We Usually Use Dislocation?

Dislocation pops up mostly in spoken English, especially in informal, everyday conversation. You’re far more likely to hear it in a pub, a coffee shop, or a kitchen table chat than you are to find it in a formal essay or a government report. (Although, to be fair, some government reports could use a bit more natural charm.)

It’s particularly common when:

• Introducing a new topic

• Clarifying something mid-sentence

• Emphasising a point

It mirrors how people naturally think aloud — often jumping to what's important before or after they’ve fully built the sentence around it.

Where Is Syntactic Dislocation Used?

Syntactic dislocation is used across the English-speaking world, though its frequency and style can vary slightly depending on region and dialect.

• British English: Particularly common in informal speech, especially in dialects like Cockney, Estuary English, and Northern English. It’s a common way of emphasising or drawing attention to a particular part of the sentence.

  • Example: “That book, I’ve not read it yet.”

• American English: Right dislocation is also found in casual conversation, though it’s less frequent than in British English. It can be used for emphasis or to clarify meaning.

  • Example: “It’s so cold today, that’s for sure.”

• Australian English: Like British English, Australian speakers use dislocation, especially left dislocation, to highlight the subject at the start of the sentence.

  • Example: “This weather, it’s amazing!”

• Irish and Scottish English: Both varieties use dislocation frequently, especially left-dislocation, which often reflects the influence of Gaelic and Scots languages, where fronting a topic is quite common.

  • Example: “That lad, he’s a bit of a handful.”

• Global English: In places where English is spoken as a second language (e.g., India, Singapore, or parts of Africa), dislocation can appear due to the influence of native languages that have different sentence structures, sometimes carrying over into English usage.

To me, dislocation (right dislocation, in particular) feels really British. The first time I ever noticed it was in The Mummy Returns, when Evelyn and Rick's son, Alex, is moving the chest containing the Bracelet of Anubis and says, "Rather weighty, this." not long before he puts the fool thing on and starts a countdown to the Egyptian equivalent of Ragnarok. The reason this feels so British to me is that in this scene, Alex first uses his father's American English to say "This sucker weighs a god-dang ton!" and switches to very posh-sounding British accent for the sentence with the dislocation after being scolded by his mother for his language.

But this kind of construction is used in American English as well. Maybe not as often or in the exact same way, but it's still dislocation. The original form of the American example above would be something like It's for sure cold today. I find it so interesting that the same kind of construction can feel so different between different types of English. Not that I'd ever make the mistake of thinking I know everything about my native language, but I'm always discovering something new about it. It's part of what makes language so fascinating.