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The order of constituents in a sentence is partly dependent on formal linguistic aspects, its >syntax, but also on the information it needs to convey. There are two aspects to this: the value of the information and the size of the information. Is the information already known, the topic of conversation, or a new comment on the topic? And is the information easy to grasp or does it take some mental effort?
Given and new information
The information structure of a Dutch sentence normally goes from established information (topic, in >first position) to new information (focus, towards the end of a sentence, often its >final position). Often the topic of a sentence is its grammatical >>subject: e.g. Phoenix in the first sentence of the second paragraph, het voertuig in the second sentence of that same paragraph. But it can also be something else: het intreden van de herfst op het noordelijk halfrond van de planeet Mars (1st para, 2nd sentence) or Daaruit (2nd para, 3rd sentence) are >>adverbial adjuncts. One third of the sentences in this text do not begin with the grammatical subject. The focus of the sentence always occurs towards its end. In half the sentences in this text at least part of this occurs in final position.
However, in two of the three sentences the final position is a >subordinate clause (om te functioneren and dat er ooit leven op Mars mogelijk is geweest). Subordinate clauses tend to appear in final position or first position (see >complex sentence). Here the syntactic and pragmatic aspects of sentence structure are working together. Much and little information The size of a constituent can determine the position where it occurs, especially if there is a choice between the >middle field and >final position. A relatively large constituent may make the middle filed cumbersome, difficult to understand. The final position is then more suitable. A >subordinate clause is generally quite large, which may be one of the reasons why such clauses often occur in final position (see >complex sentence). The first sentence in the text about the Phoenix Mars Lander may serve as an illustration. Version a) is easier to process that version b): a) De Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA heeft een einde gemaakt aan de missie van de Marslander Phoenix. b) De Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA heeft een einde aan de missie van de Marslander Phoenix gemaakt.
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