234 Jennifer Herriman
Both English and Swedish also have a translationally equivalent thematic variation
where clausal subjects (both finite and non-finite), as in (1a)–(4a), are postponed
until after their predicate and replaced by the formal, anticipatory subject pro-
nouns it and det, respectively, as in (1b)–(4b) (Quirk et al. 1985: 1391; Teleman et
al. 1999: 25; Huddleston & Pullum 2002: 1403; Holmes & Hinchcliffe 2003: 480;
Downing & Locke 2006: 260.)^2
(1) a. That he loved her was obvious to everyone
b. It was obvious to everyone that he loved her
(2) a. To resist would be pointless
b. It would be pointless to resist
(3) a. Att företaget går i konkurs är ganska troligt
‘That the company goes bankrupt is quite likely’
b. Det är ganska troligt att företaget går i konkurs
‘It is quite likely that the company goes bankrupt’
(4) a. Att lösa korsord är trevligt
‘To solve crosswords is nice’
b. Det är trevligt att lösa korsord
‘It is nice to solve crosswords’
This is usually referred to as extraposition. Extraposition is similar to it-clefts and
existential constructions in that it also has a short light subject.^3 It differs, however,
in that it is the unmarked variant, the variant with a subject clause in the canoni-
cal subject position before the verb, such as (1a)–(4a) above, which is less usual
in both languages (Ward & Birner 2004: 167). The latter variant will be referred to
here as nonextraposition.- Clausal objects may also be extraposed, e.g. We thought it necessary to postpone the meeting
(Huddleston & Pullum 2002: 247), Jag överlåter det nu till dig att köpa brödet ‘I leave it now to
you to buy the bread’ (Holmes & Hinchcliffe 2003: 482). These have been excluded from this
investigation. - Substitution and inversion tests may be used to distinguish Swedish det in extrapositions
from det in existential constructions. (These tests were borrowed from Ebeling’s (1999: 95–97)
investigation of existential constructions in Norwegian). According to the substitution test, det
is the subject in an extraposition if it may not be replaced by the postverbal NP clause, e.g. Det
är mitt önskemål att klubben ska läggas ned / Mitt önskemål att klubben ska läggas ned är (‘It
is my wish that the club shall be laid down /My wish that the club shall be laid down is’), and,
according to the inversion test, det is the subject in an extraposition if it is not retained when
the clause following the postverbal NP is fronted, e.g. Att klubben ska läggas ned är (det) mitt
önskemål) (‘That the club shall be laid down is (it) my wish’).