ABSTRACT
Note the position of adverbs of time (and particularly dates) in biographical texts. Very often the first reference to a date is given in the latter part of the sentence: В МИД СССР пришёл в 1970 году после окончания МГИМО. In this sentence the date is particularly important as it enables the reader to contextualise the person in time. Thereafter, dates are used to sequence the events of a person’s life and they tend to be of less significance than the events themselves. They are placed at the very beginning of the sentence and provide a structuring thread to the text.
