1. A topic first, or clarification after the comment
Dislocation divides a message into a separately named topic and a grammatically organised comment. In the typical pattern, a pronoun within the comment refers to the same person, thing or group. The detached part need not be a single word.
Left dislocation names the topic before the comment. Right dislocation first presents a comment with a pronoun, then clarifies its referent. Both are common in speech. The names describe positions in writing rather than instructing you to move words mechanically.
Left: topic, comment referring back to it. Right: comment with a referring expression, clarifying topic.
That side entrance, it is still locked.
That side entrance, it is still locked.
The topic is established first; it is the comment’s subject referring to that entrance.
It is still locked, that side entrance.
It is still locked, that side entrance.
The same circumstance, with the entrance’s full name after the comment. This is neither a different event nor a stronger claim.
2. Left dislocation: returning to or isolating a topic
An initial topic helps orient the listener: return to an earlier issue, separate one item from others or introduce a long description. It can be new to the current discussion but identifiable from its description or the situation. It need not have been mentioned word for word already.
The topic does not always correspond to the subject. Its pronoun can be a verb object or follow a preposition. Identify its role in the comment rather than copying the first pronoun associated with the noun.
The revised safety instructions, I have not read them yet.
The revised safety instructions, I have not read them yet.
The instructions are the topic, but I is the comment’s subject; them is the object of read. Negation and yet remain part of the message.
That colleague from the evening shift, I spoke to her yesterday.
That colleague from the evening shift, I spoke to her yesterday.
A long noun phrase establishes the topic; her follows to. It refers to the colleague rather than the shift.
3. Right dislocation: clarifying an accessible referent
A final topic can recall a name, specify a pronoun’s reference or add an evaluative comment about something already accessible. It need not correct a misunderstanding or be an unplanned afterthought.
The pronoun’s referent must be sufficiently accessible from the situation or explained by the final phrase. A clarifying name is useful when two candidates of the same number compete. But a tail does not make every unclear response effective: an ordinary sentence is often simpler for first introducing key news. This is a presentation choice rather than a grammaticality test.
We cannot replace them this month, those two pumps.
We cannot replace them this month, those two pumps.
Them is the object of replace; those two pumps identifies both pumps at the end. The tail does not turn inability into unwillingness.
She was remarkably patient, the interpreter.
She was remarkably patient, the interpreter.
In discussion of the meeting, the final noun identifies she. This can be a concluding assessment rather than a correction.
4. Reference: number, grammatical role and exact meaning
For an explicitly named plural group of things, use subject they and object them; for one thing, normally it. Pronouns retain ordinary verb agreement and question patterns. A detached topic does not exempt the comment from grammar.
Do not equate grammatical number with counting words. Singular they can refer to one person; collective agreement depends on whether the organisation or members are in focus. It or that can refer to a whole action or situation rather than the nearest noun. A closed task must establish the intended reference.
Those two access cards, where did you put them?
Those two access cards, where did you put them?
Them preserves the cards’ plurality; the direct question uses where did you put rather than statement order.
The next applicant, they may need an interpreter.
The next applicant, they may need an interpreter.
One person whose gender is unspecified; singular they does not mean several applicants.
Working through lunch, that is what I want to avoid.
Working through lunch, that is what I want to avoid.
That refers to working through lunch rather than a particular person. A whole phrase can form the topic.
5. Dislocation, fronting and apposition are different
In typical object fronting, or topicalisation, the fronted phrase itself fills the object role: there is no extra object pronoun there. In typical dislocation, a pronoun remains in the comment. A comma alone proves neither structure. Some references use fronting more broadly; here the comparison is specifically object fronting without a resumptive pronoun.
Apposition provides a second description of the same noun: the coordinator, a former engineer. This is not automatically dislocation. Apposition can be part of a detached topic too, so examine the full structure rather than just two neighbouring noun phrases.
That proposal, we cannot support.
That proposal, we cannot support.
That proposal is the fronted object of support. The absence of it does not make this version incorrect.
That proposal, we cannot support it.
That proposal, we cannot support it.
Left dislocation: it is the object inside the comment. The refusal’s meaning stays the same while information structure differs.
The coordinator, a former engineer, checked the figures.
The coordinator, a former engineer, checked the figures.
A former engineer is apposition to the subject. There is no resumptive pronoun and this is not typical dislocation.
The coordinator, a former engineer, he checked the figures.
The coordinator, a former engineer, he checked the figures.
On a conversational reading, the apposition belongs to the detached topic and he is the separate comment’s subject. The two structures can coexist.
6. Boundaries: not every repetition is an error
In spontaneous speech, someone may repeat a name, hesitate or restart a phrase. Repeating a full noun phrase alone does not make its transcription ungrammatical. Without context and sound, distinguishing a planned topic from a restart can be difficult.
The pronoun pattern is this lesson’s main target rather than a universal definition of all left dislocation. Broader descriptions include detached topics connected to a comment only semantically. Classification depends on theory and context. Do not mechanically add a pronoun where it has no grammatical role.
The booking system — the booking system was offline again.
The booking system — the booking system was offline again.
Possible emphatic repetition or a restart. It is not the target pronoun pattern, but repetition alone does not prove a grammatical error.
Parking, this neighbourhood is a nightmare.
Parking, this neighbourhood is a nightmare.
In a conversation about finding a space, parking supplies the domain of assessment rather than the comment’s subject or object. This is a broader detached-topic case, not a closed correction template.
7. Register: conversational form as a resource
Headers and tails are especially characteristic of conversation and rarer in ordinary edited prose. A business setting does not automatically prohibit them: a meeting contribution, a report quotation and the report’s main text have different requirements.
Commas or dashes show separation in writing but cannot represent every intonation difference. Contractions are not required for dislocation: it is and it’s can do the same job. Do not treat the ordinary sentence as inferior merely because you are practising a marked construction.
The second option, it may still be feasible.
The second option, it may still be feasible.
A possible meeting contribution returning to the second option. May preserves uncertainty; conversational structure does not strengthen the evidence.
The second option may still be feasible.
The second option may still be feasible.
A suitable neutral statement of the same information, for example in a brief written conclusion. It is grammatically complete without dislocation.
8. Using dislocation in your own speech
Identify what the listener can already recognise, what you want to say, and whether naming the topic before or after the comment helps. Check the pronoun’s referent, case and agreement within the comment.
After rewriting, check actors, quantities, time, negation, possibility and obligation. Dislocation changes message organisation rather than licensing invented causes. Open-task samples show one possible response; assess your own against explicit criteria. A written self-check does not measure pronunciation or intonation.
Those two invoices, we might not pay them until Friday.
Those two invoices, we might not pay them until Friday.
The two invoices, we, might not and the time boundary are preserved. No cause of the possible delay follows from the sentence.
We might not pay them until Friday, those two invoices.
We might not pay them until Friday, those two invoices.
The tail changes the order of identification without turning possibility into certainty or adding a financial reason.
Common mistakes
Incorrect:Those permits, they is valid until Monday.
Correct:Those permits, they are valid until Monday.
Comment subject they requires are regardless of the detached topic. Only the incorrect agreement changes.
Incorrect:Those delegates, we spoke to they yesterday.
Correct:Those delegates, we spoke to them yesterday.
After preposition to, use object form them rather than subject form they. The people and conversation time stay unchanged.
Incorrect:That estimate, it do not include delivery.
Correct:That estimate, it does not include delivery.
Present-simple subject it takes does not. Dislocation does not change auxiliary rules.
Incorrect:Those keys, where did you left them?
Correct:Those keys, where did you leave them?
After did in a direct question, use base form leave. The question still concerns the same keys.