ABSTRACT
Highlighting is an important way of focusing the hearer’s or reader’s particular attention on the
most significant point (the focal element) of a text. It is achieved in both spoken and written
French by means of various changes to the ‘normal’ word order of subject + verb +
object/complement. In spoken English, highlighting is more commonly achieved simply by tone
of voice, by laying extra stress on the word(s) in question, e.g. ‘I admire my friend because . . .’