Choose the analysis that fits each stated conversational context. Do not infer an attitude or a spoken delivery from punctuation alone.
Question 1
After several minutes on another subject, a speaker says: That coastal walk we were planning, it might be too long for the children. The initial phrase primarily _____.
Options: corrects a previously misidentified person, reactivates a previously discussed topic, identifies a referent after the assessment
Question 2
A speaker says: The morning ferry is convenient. The evening sailing, I am less keen on it. Here left dislocation _____.
Options: appears to continue assessing the morning ferry, provides a naming tail after the comment, shifts to a contrasting topic
Question 3
Before describing what happened, a speaker says: The neighbour whose dog escaped during the storm, I managed to contact her. Naming the neighbour first helps the listener _____.
Options: establish a complex referent before processing the comment, reinterpret her as referring to the storm, treat the opening phrase as a correction after the clause
Question 4
Two friends are looking at a familiar bicycle. One says: It has lasted well, that old bike. The final phrase _____.
Options: seems to identify a second bicycle for comparison, reinforces the identity of an accessible referent, suggests that it referred to the wrong bicycle
Question 5
In My cousins, their flat is above a bakery, the comment concerns _____.
Options: the cousins as the grammatical subject of is, a flat with no explicit link to the cousins, something associated with the topic through a possessive link
Question 6
With no information about tone or situation, consider He is quite a character, your uncle. The right-dislocated structure alone _____.
Options: does not determine whether the attitude is affectionate or irritated, provides evidence of irritation through the position of the naming phrase, suggests affection because the naming phrase follows the evaluation
Question 7
A speaker deliberately gives an assessment first, then smoothly names the same familiar object: It is beautifully made, this little box. This _____.
Options: suggests an unplanned search for a forgotten name, can be planned right dislocation rather than a repair, appears to redirect it towards a different object
Question 8
After noticing possible confusion, a speaker says: He has the spare key — I mean the caretaker, not the owner. The continuation is _____.
Options: an initial topic preceding its comment, a tail with no explicit indication of clarification, an explicit clarification of the intended referent
Question 9
One traveller asks about a recent stay. The other replies: That guesthouse, the beds were uncomfortable. The relationship between the opening topic and the comment is _____.
Options: inferred from the situation, without a resumptive pronoun, expressed by a possessive pronoun before beds, formed by moving the object of were to the beginning
Question 10
A transcript labels an opening noun phrase as left-dislocated but contains no recording or pause measurements. Which claim remains justified? _____
Options: The label provides evidence of a conspicuous silence after the topic., A conspicuous silence is not required for dislocation., The label suggests that the topic had a falling rather than continuing contour.
Question 11
Asked which soup she recommends, a diner replies: The mushroom soup, I would recommend; the onion soup, I would avoid. In both clauses the initial noun phrase is _____.
Options: a left-dislocated topic resumed by the subject I, a loosely linked topic with no grammatical role in the comment, a fronted object with no corresponding resumptive pronoun
Question 12
A spontaneous interview contains a relative clause with an extra object pronoun. An editor removes that pronoun for standard edited English. The appropriate conclusion is that _____.
Options: relative-clause resumption has variable acceptability and is not equivalent to ordinary dislocation, the same edit is probably needed in left dislocation because its pronoun also repeats a referent, the extra object is generally an optional stylistic choice in standard edited relative clauses
Practice Dislocation and Resumptive Pronouns in Spoken Discourse — Meaning in Context with this interactive fill-in-the-blank exercise of 12 questions. Choose the option that correctly completes each sentence, then submit to check your answers and get detailed feedback on every choice.
Practicing grammar in real sentences — rather than memorising rules in isolation — is one of the most effective ways to make a structure stick. You can retry as many times as you like to build accuracy and confidence using Dislocation and Resumptive Pronouns in Spoken Discourse — Meaning in Context in everyday English.
Looking for more practice? See all exercises for this lesson.
